The Electus Series Part 2: Shadows of Darkness
by Hannah554
Summary: AU. They thought it was over but it was only just beginning and Elizabeth and Teyla must face their destiny once again. John/Elizabeth, Ronon/Teyla, Carson/Laura.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note – The second part of the series is finally here, sorry it took so long, I had some problems in RL and my muse decided to run away but better late than never. The link to the trailer for this story is on my profile page for anyone who's interested and thanks for sticking with me. **

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The Electus Series – Part 2 – Shadows of Darkness

Chapter 1

Arios wasn't the most prosperous planet but the market was always busy, not so full of people that it was impossible to move around but there were areas that required some skilled dodging and weaving. Stalls lined the streets; the merchandise on many of them sprawled out across additional tables and along the floor, nobody really stuck to their assigned areas. Fish was the most prominent smell, the harbour was less than a mile away and fishermen would come here to sell whatever they had caught.

Andrew Maclan handed over his money to the stall owner, receiving the gold ring in exchange, the shinning metal twisting around a sparkling crystal. He nodded his approval and walked away from the store, closing the velvet ring box and tucking it deep into his pocket for safe keeping. He ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair, his blue eyes betraying his nerves as he weaved his way through the crowd.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the man beside him questioned, amusement obvious in his voice. "There's still time to back out."

"I've never been more sure of anything," Andrew replied, glancing at his friend. Jerome was by no means a small man, he was tall and muscular, with dark hair that framed his face and crept along his chin. An intimidating man to say the least but one that Andrew would trust with his life, having been friends since they were kids it was Jerome that had kept the school bullies at bay when they were kids and Andrew had been somewhat of a geek. The years had changed that, he'd grown out of his awkward phase and was more than capable of taking care of himself, not that having Jerome around didn't make him feel a whole lot better.

"She's a great girl, you'd do well not to lose her," Jerome stated and Andrew nodded his in agreement.

"I just have to hope she says yes," Andrew replied, his nerves worsening. He had it all planned out, candlelight dinner and her favourite music, a cliché scene but one that he felt could not be more perfect.

"Of course she'll say yes," Jerome reassured, slapping his large hand on his back and almost knocking the wind out of Andrew.

The crowd thinned out as they approached the edge of the market, the scenery moving from stalls and crowds to apartment blocks. Andrew rested his hand on his pocket as though he wanted to reassure himself the ring was still there, it would be rather embarrassing to lose it. Shouting from the alleyway beside them caught their attention, a scream soon followed the sound, reverberating through the mostly empty street, the market far enough and busy enough to not have heard it.

Glancing at Jerome they followed the sound, if someone was in trouble and they could do something then they had to at least try. They turned the corner, the alleyway as grimy as every other, a broken down car that had been stripped of anything useful sitting between large dumpsters and black plastic bags full of rubbish. There was a fire escape leading up the wall on one side, the main route of escape for the apartment block it was attached to.

There were three youths, probably about nineteen scattered around, they'd obviously been up to no good, the half spray painted swear word on the wall and discarded can of spray paint being a big give away. All of their eyes were fixed on something further down the alley, looks of pure terror on all of the faces and Andrew followed their gaze to the dead body. A young man, the same age as the others, dark coloured hair, nose and eyebrow piercings, a lost soul who had just lost his life as well.

It wasn't until then that he noticed what the three young people were really staring at, it looked like a shadow except it was standing alone, not being cast by any object. It had the rough shape of a person but the edges seemed jagged and the eyes were nothing more than blank white slits in the otherwise complete blackness.

Andrew took a step back in fear, beside him he heard Jerome shouting for the kids to run. They all obeyed the command, two of them running out of the alley but the third never made it, the shadow advanced on him, wisps of blackness enveloping him, the young man seemed to be in pain but Andrew couldn't see how the creature was hurting him. He looked at Andrew and Jerome in terror, his eyes pleading with them for help but before either man could do anything the kid was dead. The shadow released him, allowing his body to fall to the floor, lifeless eyes still fixed on Andrew.

He felt Jerome grab his arm, was vaguely aware that they were running out of the alley and then toward the market but it felt like he was watching everything from outside his body. The only clear thing in his mind was the image of the nineteen year olds terrified yet lifeless eyes.

* * *

The sound of gunfire was broken only by the explosions and shouts, the dirt being rained down on them almost as much as the bullets. The air was humid, rain was on its way and after several hours of this endless fighting it would be nice to be out of there before the downpour arrived. As unlikely as it was Elizabeth continued to cling to the possibility, her clothes were already covered in mud, the ground not completely dry from the rain that had been there shortly before her arrival, she didn't want to add a tonne of water to them.

The Alliance had the upper hand here, there were more of them, a lot more but the Vernai were persistent if nothing else. They wouldn't give up unless their commanding officer ordered them too and that was highly unlikely. The Vernai commander probably wasn't even on the ground; he or she was probably sitting in a comfortable chair on one of their ships in orbit. Hopefully the Alliance ships were making that position almost as uncomfortable as the trench she'd been stuck in for over an hour now.

There was an increase in gunfire, a sure sign that someone on one side has broken cover and she was about to stick her head out of her hole in the ground when someone slipped into it beside her. A few of the military officers in the hole raised their weapons, lowering them again once they realised it wasn't a Vernai.

John took a moment to catch his breath after his mad dash from one of the other trenches. He looked about as bad as she did, his clothes and parts of his skin were covered in dirt, his hair hadn't faired much better but it still defiantly stuck up in various directions. She hadn't seen him since shortly after their arrival, they'd both been thrown straight into the battle and until that moment she'd had no idea if he was alive or dead.

"We found a gap," John told her "It'll be risky but we think we can get a few people behind them. We've got some volunteers but the commander wants both of us to go, he thinks it'll increase our chances if there are two agents with them."

"What are we supposed to do when we get to the other side?" Elizabeth questioned, she didn't see how having a few people on the opposite side of the Vernai would make that much of a difference and in all likelihood they'd all get shot before they made it anyway.

"Drop a few grenades on their heads," John replied, his tone matter of fact as he stuck his head out of the hole to see what the sudden increase in gunfire and explosions was about. He was met with a few bullets that skimmed the ground near his head and he quickly dropped back down to the relative safety of the trench. "Diminish their numbers so the guys in front can finish the job."

"Fair enough," Elizabeth said gripping her automatic tighter and clutching it against her side. She turned around to the officers in the hole with her, they all looked tired but if this worked it would be over soon, if it didn't... well it would be over for her. "Cover us."

"Alright, follow me," John instructed and Elizabeth nodded, both of them moved to the edge of the hole, getting their footing so they could spring out of the hole quickly and hopefully make it to the safety of another trench without getting killed. John counted down, the word 'one' barely making it out of his mouth before they pushed themselves out of the trench. The officer's behind them fired their weapons, covering them as much as they could as the enemy increased their gunfire, aiming it at John and Elizabeth.

The bullets were almost on target, if the two Agents hadn't been running so fast they would have been hit already. Dirt was thrown up in the air slightly every time a bullet hit the ground by her feet and she sighed in relief when they both dropped down into another ditch, ignoring the weapons that were momentarily pointed at them. She followed John through the narrow trench until they found Commander Adams; he was shouting orders, trying to be heard above all the noise. He turned tired brown eyes on them and stopped shouting long enough to speak to them.

"There's five going plus you two, when you get to the other side take out as many as you can, we'll take care of the rest, good luck," the commander said, directing his attention back to his men. John walked over to a small group, four men and one woman, all of them wearing the Alliance military uniform and looking as tired as Elizabeth felt.

"Anyone wants to change their mind, now's their last chance," John stated and when no one voiced a desire to stay here he nodded his head. "We only get one chance at this, stay low and move as fast as you can, don't fire unless you absolutely have to; we need to get passed unnoticed."

John stepped up to the edge of the ditch and pulled himself out, Elizabeth held her breath for a moment but there was no increase in the gunfire, he hadn't been seen. Taking a deep breath 

Elizabeth followed him out of the hole, relieved when she didn't immediately get shot. John was already making his way across the battle field, keeping so low he was almost crawling and Elizabeth followed his example as well as him. It felt like forever before John stopped and turned to the group, glancing behind her Elizabeth could see the Vernai trenches, the Alliance ones looked small from where she was now standing.

John communicated silently, gesturing with hands signals and the five military officers nodded their head in understanding before the group spilt, half heading left and the other half right. Elizabeth reached to her belt, there were three grenades attached to it and she was going to have to make all of them count without getting shot in the process. The military officer split off from her and John heading toward the trenches and a few moments later Elizabeth did the same leaving John to take on the edge of the Vernai line.

She took each step with care; she couldn't afford to alert the Vernai to her presence until she was dropping a grenade into their hole. She managed to get within a couple of meters of the ditch before the first explosion ripped through the air, the Vernai in the trench in front of her trying to figure out what was going on, why that explosion had sounded so close. Without much thought Elizabeth pulled the first grenade from her belt, pulling out the metal pin and tossing the round explosive into the hole. She ran across the trench, reaching for another grenade and repeating the task before the Vernai could register what was going on.

They had her figured out then and the gunfire was turned her way, she had one more grenade to throw though and she pulled the pin, throwing it into the hole beside her before changing the direction of her run, moving a way from the trench instead of alongside it. The explosion happened quicker than she'd expected it to and she was hit by a wave of heat and pressure that threw her forward, knocking her to the ground.

Everything seemed quiet, the sounds of gunfire and shouting were muffled and even the explosions seemed small. She turned around, lifting herself from the ground slightly so that she could see what was going on behind her, the explosions had stopped and the Alliance troops were pressing forward, no longer pinned down by the constant fire of the Vernai. The sounds slowly started to focus more and she could make out the sound of footsteps beside her coming closer. She turned to face whatever was coming, her hand gripping her weapon but she relaxed once she saw John.

"Are you alright?" he asked her as dropped down next to her, his voice was still slightly muffled but the words were easy to make out now.

"Nothing a long, hot bath and an even longer nap won't fix," she replied, her eyes going back to the battle in front of her as she got up from the floor. The Alliance had won this fight; it was just a matter of clearing out the last few Vernai, she could only hope the battle in orbit had gone as well as it had down here.

* * *

The shuttle finally landed on Atlantis, the two day trip back to Alliance headquarters had not been a pleasant one. The Alliance ships had taken some pretty serious damage in the battle for Lentar, despite having been the victors. The Vernai ships had looked a lot worse, the few remaining ones had limped away from the battle and the Alliance had been in no condition to follow. John 

unbuckled the belt that had held him in place and walked off the shuttle, ready for a hot shower – not the barely warm ones he'd been stuck with on the return journey – and a good meal.

Elizabeth was beside him, looking better than she had on the planet but just as tired, sleep was definitely in order once they'd finished with the showers and meals. The docking bay was abuzz with activity, more shuttles coming in for landing and others heading to the space station in orbit, taking more materials and personnel to help fix the damaged ships.

"Oh no," John said when he spotted the young man making his way towards them, a council aide with his eyes fixed on them, there went any plans for relaxing for a few hours.

"Agent Sheppard, Agent Weir," the young man greeted, his tone lifeless and unenthusiastic and John had to wonder if the Council trained that into their aides, they were all rather dull personalities. "The council requests to see you immediately."

The young man walked away without another word and John took a deep breath, letting it out with an over dramatic sigh. He looked at Elizabeth whose only response was a shrug before she began to make her way through the busy docking bay and John had no choice but to follow.

"You'd think they'd at least let us have an hour's break," John stated as the two of them made their way through the bland corridors of the Alliance Headquarters. They smiled and nodded to the few people they passed, taking their time in reaching the doors to the council chamber. Neither guard said a word, just glanced at the two Agents and opened the doors.

The Councillors were already convened, sitting around their semi circular table in the large and mostly empty room. John and Elizabeth stood in the middle, both of them waiting to be told why they were here while the Councillors took their time, pausing as if for dramatic effect.

"First of all, your performances on Lentar were exemplary as always, well done," the lead Councillor began and John had a feeling he wasn't going to like this, they always said something nice before they told you something unpleasant. "We have grave news though."

"The two of you were not made fully aware of the prophesy," another Councillor stated and John resisted the urge to sigh, ignoring the annoyance that ran through him. He looked at Elizabeth who had visibly stiffened; they had both though that was over with now. It had been six months since Elizabeth and Teyla had destroyed the cloud, what more could there possibly be?

"The cloud was not destroyed, merely shattered," the lead Councillor continued, his low, flat tone giving nothing away. "It formed what the prophesy calls Shadow Warriors, they do not have the destructive potential the cloud has but are just as lethal to humans."

"In the last few weeks we have been receiving reports of attacks by shadow like creatures, we are now certain that the Shadow Warriors are responsible but like the cloud we have no way to track them, we can only follow the path of their attacks and the discrepancies they create in sensor readings," a female councillor told them, her aging face looked worried, the most emotion they had seen on any council members face.

"What does that have to do with me?" Elizabeth questioned her voice calm and strong but John could tell she was nervous. She didn't want to go back to this anymore than he did but they had their duty and Elizabeth had her destiny and if this was part of it they would just have to accept it.

"You are the Electus," another Councillor reminded her, as if she actually needed the reminder. "You and Teyla Emmagan are the only people with the ability to destroy them. Together you can defeat these creatures, though this time you have no control over them."

"Teyla is in jail," Elizabeth replied, her turn to remind the council.

"You are to go to her and convince her to help you destroy the shadow warriors," the lead Councillor informed them and John tried not to roll his eyes, did the council really believe it was going to be that simple?

"She has been in jail for six months," John stated, speaking up for the first time since entering the room and it seemed as though the councillors had only just remembered he was there. "She may not want to help."

"It is up to the two of you to convince her," the female councillor said "You will leave for the prison in the morning, dismissed."

Though John wanted to argue and it seemed Elizabeth did as well they both kept their mouths shut and left the council chamber. There were too many thoughts running through his head in that moment, the first being that this was not as done with as he'd thought and Elizabeth was going to have to deal with her destiny all over again. The second being that they didn't really know anything, only that creatures that looked like shadows were attacking people and Elizabeth and Teyla had to destroy them.

"What are you thinking?" John questioned when Elizabeth didn't say anything, she had that look on her face though, the one she got when she was deep in thought about something she didn't like.

"Too much to list," Elizabeth replied "Mostly about seeing Teyla again though, she's been in that prison for six months; it's going to be weird."

"Think she'll help?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Wormhole – **I'm glad it was worth the wait, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter so much and you'll get to find out about Teyla in this one, I hope you enjoy it.

**Steph – **I'm glad you liked the beginning of the story, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **Sorry to have kept you waiting but I'm glad you liked the first chapter, hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Yes you spelt it right lol, I'm glad you like the new enemy and again, sorry about the wait for this. You're pretty close with your idea about Teyla, thanks for the review.

**Bite Beccy – **After being locked away in prison I don't think I'd be that co-operative either lol, especially not with Teyla's feelings about the Alliance. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jessy Luke **– I'm glad you enjoyed the first part and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

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Chapter 2

Halon was about a five hour journey from Atlantis at top speed; the women's prison here was probably the most secure in the galaxy. The most dangerous prisoners were sent there along with the ones most likely to be broken out, with all the security measures in place, breaking in or out was damn near impossible. The prisoners were allowed out for an hour a day, released in small groups into the fenced off, heavily guarded yard at the back of the prison. Meals were brought to their cells and other than their hour of exercise and fresh air inmates were not allowed out of the cells except for trips to the infirmary and the very rare visits of family and friends. This wasn't a place for rehabilitation, the people there were in the there for life, never to see anything beyond the walls of the prison again.

After leaving their shuttle in the space port a mile from the prison John and Elizabeth had taken a car the rest of the way. The prison was huge, housing over a thousand inmates and staffed by 300 workers, 200 of which were armed guards. They showed their Alliance ID's to the guards in the bullet proof booth at the front of the prison. Their names were checked against the list of authorised visitors before they were even able to enter the prison. They walked down a short hall towards a heavy steel door, a red light on the camera above them blinked several times before the door lifted allowing them into yet another corridor.

The room at the end was similar to a reception area, they both handed over their weapons, exchanging them for prison passes that would allow them to access to the main part of the prison. Two guards were stood in front of their next doorway; they entered their pass code into a small panel, opening the door to allow them entry. Another guard waited on the other side for them, there to escort them to the visitor's room where they'd meet Teyla.

Elizabeth knew she should feel bad for Teyla, forced to live the rest of her life in a place like this but she couldn't find it anywhere in her. Teyla may have come through in the end but she'd committed horrible crimes before that; had killed a lot of innocent people and Elizabeth still wasn't sure why Teyla had chosen to help her. After spending months with the Vernai, training to help them destroy humanity and starting on the path to do that, why did she suddenly turn around and help her to destroy the cloud.

After passing at least twenty more armed guards, several steel doors and a dozen security camera's Elizabeth and John were finally led into the visitor's room. It was small, there were no windows and the walls and floor were concrete, not the most comfortable place to enjoy visits but them the people here generally didn't deserve comfort.

Teyla was already there, sitting at the opposite side of the wooden table and eyeing them with curiosity. She didn't look much different to when they had last seen her six months ago, she was wearing a faded blue top and worn looking jeans, her hair was partly tied back out of her face. Apart from the scruffy looking clothes, she didn't look like a woman who had spent half a year in a maximum security prison.

"Hello Teyla," Elizabeth greeted flatly as she moved to sit at the table. Beside her John motioned for the guard to leave, the other guards could keep an eye on things from the security room down the hall.

"Didn't expect to see you again," Teyla replied, her expression completely neutral, whatever Teyla was feeling, Elizabeth couldn't tell anymore. John sat down in the chair next to her, keeping quiet for now and allowing Elizabeth to do the talking, this would probably go better that way, as better as this situation could get.

"I didn't expect to be coming here," Elizabeth stated and the corner of Teyla's lips twisted up in a small smile.

"Well now that you are here, why don't you tell me what you want, I doubt it was to see me," Teyla responded and Elizabeth sighed inwardly, looking at them now you'd never guess they had once been like sisters.

"The cloud wasn't destroyed," Elizabeth informed her, allowing that to sink in before she explained further. Shock crossed Teyla's face along with a look of annoyance that Elizabeth could identify with, they'd both thought the prophesy was over with. "We didn't destroy it we only shattered it, according to the prophesy it has become 8 shadow warriors, only we can kill them but this time we have no control over them."

"Shadow Warriors?" Teyla questioned and Elizabeth nodded her head.

"I don't know much more than you, I was only told about this yesterday but it sounds like they're creatures with the appearance of shadows, just as lethal to humans as the cloud was but without the destructive capabilities," Elizabeth explained as Teyla looked down, taking in everything she was being told before she looked back at Elizabeth, her eyes locking onto hers with a serious expression.

"And your council sent you here to ask for my help, they want me to save humanity again even after they locked me in here," Teyla stated, there was no question in her tone, she was simply stating what she figured to be true.

"Teyla you killed a lot of people, you used your abilities to destroy entire populations. You can't do something like that and get away with it, you have to face the consequences," Elizabeth replied, her serious tone matching Teyla's and any sisterly feelings that had crept in throughout the conversation were gone again now.

"I'll telly you what, I will help you on one condition, both Ronon and myself are released from prison, all charges against us dropped," Teyla informed her, leaning back in her chair as if to say there would be no negotiation.

"The council will never go for that," John said as he joined the conversation. "You were both arrested for treason; they won't just let you out again."

"Then I won't help," Teyla stated, standing up and walking over to the door behind her. She knocked on it, waiting for the guard to open the small rectangular window. "I'm ready to go back to my cell now."

Teyla was led out of the room, the steel door closing with a metallic clang that echoed around the room. Elizabeth sat there in silence, trying to figure out if any part of the Teyla she had once known was still alive.

"The council won't let her out," John told her and Elizabeth sighed as she stood up to leave the visitor's room.

* * *

Teyla paced back and forth in her cell, her mind spinning with unanswered questions and doubts over her decision. Over the last six months she'd had little to do, exercises, a few crosswords, I spy with the woman in the next cell which was made harder by the fact that she couldn't see the woman or any of the things she was looking at, it was more lucky guesses than anything else. Mostly she just sat and stared at the walls, thinking about everything that had happened.

She had accepted months ago that perhaps what she had done with the Vernai was wrong, she had killed innocent people and no matter which way she looked at it, she couldn't justify that. She'd been angry, hurt that Elizabeth and the supposed good guys had left her to her fate at the hands of the Vernai which would have been ugly had Ronon not been given custody of her. Angry as she had been, those people had nothing to do with it; they were innocent bystanders, caught in the battle Teyla had chosen to wage against Elizabeth and any remnants of the naive, vulnerable girl Teyla had one been.

Going back was impossible now; she was a changed person, nothing like the young woman who had been taken from Corlain. She was still angry with Elizabeth and the Alliance and that would probably never change, the bond that Elizabeth and Teyla had once shared was damaged beyond repair now. They didn't even know each other anymore; Teyla knew nothing about the woman that had come to visit her today, only her name and a part of her past.

They had destroyed the cloud together and that was it, Elizabeth had left her to her fate once again, to suffer through whatever the Alliance decided to do with her. If the cloud had not returned in the form of these Shadow Warriors, her former sister would probably never have come here, never once visited her. Innocent lives were at stake here, she wanted to help, would do it if she could but this was the only chance at freedom she would ever get, the only chance at freedom Ronon would ever get. She hadn't seen Ronon since the trial, brief as it was, it had been more like a sentencing than a trial really, they'd already been determined to be guilty.

She missed him, more than she cared to admit to and she refused to even consider why, why she risked everything to sleep with him whilst they were with the Vernai, why she had risked even more to leave the Vernai with him, why it hurt not to be able to see him now. She knew the answer would hurt her even more, if she looked too deep, she might find something that would shatter the peace she had made with her fate.

As much as she hated the idea of putting more innocent lives on the line she couldn't give up on her only chance of seeing Ronon again. Sooner or later the Alliance council would have to give into her demands, the more lives that were lost the less choice they would have, they wouldn't just sit by and watch innocent people die just to keep two people in prison... would they?

* * *

Elizabeth had been quiet all the way back from the prison; she'd spent most of the five hour return journey in her room, staring out of the window at hyperspace. John had left her to it, he knew her well enough to know when she needed to talk about something and when she just needed a little time alone to get her thoughts straight. Now back on Atlantis she seemed more like her usual self, only now with the weight of the prophesy once again settling on her shoulders.

They left the space port intending to head straight for John's room, it being the closest and both of them needing the sleep. The last couple of days had been rather stressful for both of them, her more than him and sleep sounded like heaven at that moment. That plan was thrown out of the window when a familiar voice called to them from down the corridor, turning around they saw Marcus, standing with Laura and Carson, waving them over.

"Hey," Elizabeth greeted as they joined the group.

"So we got back from the aid mission on Galia and the council called us in before we could even get our feet off the shuttle," Marcus began and John had a feeling he knew where this was going. "They said the Cloud wasn't destroyed, started talking about Shadow Warriors and the prophesy."

"I think we should talk about this away from here," John stated with a look around the corridor, the Council wanted to keep this quiet for now and there were too many people walking around, they would be too easily overheard and gossip around here moved at a speed hyperdrive would be jealous of.

The five of them made their way to John's quarters, out of earshot of anyone looking for something to gossip about. Elizabeth went and sat down on the bed, as comfortable in his room now as she was in her own. "We went to see Teyla," she told them, we just got back from Halon.

"What did she say?" Laura questioned leaning on the wall by the door.

"No," Elizabeth replied, her gaze going to the window.

"She won't help us to destroy the Shadow Warriors unless the Council agrees to release her and Ronon without charge," John explained in more detail when it became apparent Elizabeth didn't want to. "We sent a transmission to the council while we were on the way back; we haven't heard anything yet though."

"Do you think they'll agree?" Carson asked from where he stood beside Laura.

"No I doubt it, they're in prison for treason, there's no way they'll let them out," John told them and could see Marcus nodding his head in agreement. They all looked worried; a familiar tension had settled over the group, one they'd all thought was long gone. The council would only have informed them if they intended to involve them but without Teyla what could any of them do.

"We should let the two of you get some sleep," Carson stated "We'll see you tomorrow."

Laura and Carson left the room, Marcus following them and John turned to look at Elizabeth who allowed herself to fall back against the bed. He walked over to her, lying down beside her and propping himself up on his elbow so he could see her. She looked tired, she hadn't slept much last night, had been too busy thinking about today and tonight she would be worrying too much about tomorrow and the council's decision.

"We can talk or we can make a futile effort to get a decent night's sleep," he said and she smiled slightly, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again she fixed her gaze on his, he could see the worry there but he could see the strength as well.

She'd come a long way in the last six months, once life had settled down as much as the life of an Agent could she'd found herself, something he'd been worried she'd lost in the insanity of the months before. She'd gone from being a naive girl on Corlain, sheltered and protected from everything bad to having it all thrown at her at once, she'd handled it extremely well, changing to survive the situation. Once that was over she'd been able to change at her own pace, to find her own strength and she was as good an Agent as any now, better than most.

"We should try and sleep, we can talk tomorrow, hopefully the council will tell us what's going on then," Elizabeth replied and John leaned forward, pressing his lips softly against hers, holding them there longer than was necessary before pulling away to find some clothes to change into.

With a sigh Elizabeth dragged herself from the bed and grabbed her own clothes, there was almost as much of her stuff in here now as there was in her own room, his being closer to the docking bay, the cafeteria, their office and the training rooms, it just made it easier to stay here than in hers. The council it seemed didn't suspect anything was going on between them, there were rumours but there were rumours about every Agent that was partnered with a member of the opposite sex. Laura had nearly hit someone last week for suggesting she was cheating on Carson with Marcus. There would always be rumours and the council knew that as well as him, even still, they were both cautious.

* * *

Elizabeth didn't feel much like eating but knowing that she was going to need her strength for whatever was to come she forced herself to eat the slice of toast on her plate. Carson and John kept casting her concerned glances so she made a point of waving the toast at them before she took another bite. Laura was currently threatening Rodney with a lemon, the scientist had been muttering something scientific all morning and apparently Laura had a headache.

Marcus arrived, still looking half asleep as he put his tray of food on the table beside John and sat down. He cast an amused look at Laura before shrugging and digging his spoon into his fruit loops.

"Where's Radek this morning?" Elizabeth asked, the scientist usually had breakfast with them and she'd grown to like the man over the last six months, anyone capable of working with Rodney and his inflated ego everyday for six years without going crazy more than earned her respect.

"He's working in the lab, the Council have put him in charge of the hyperdrive upgrade tests," Rodney stated, a note of annoyance in his voice.

"I thought you were the head of the science department; don't you decide who heads up which projects?" Marcus questioned shovelling another forkful of cereal into his mouth and Rodney nodded his head.

"Usually and I was going to put myself in charge of those tests but Councillor Greaves showed up yesterday and said they wanted Radek in charge," Rodney explained and Elizabeth frowned.

"They didn't say why?" She asked.

"They said they wanted me to be available for something else though I have no idea what, those tests are the most important thing we're doing at the moment," Rodney replied and John glanced at Elizabeth, a knowing look on his face, whatever the council had planned involved Rodney as well. The same group of people that had hunted down the cloud were all being involved again and she wasn't sure how she felt about that, these people were her family and she didn't like them being in harm's way.

"Agent's, Dr McKay, Dr Beckett, the council requests to see you immediately," the young man who had walked up to the table without any of them noticing stated. They all stood up, abandoning their breakfast, apart from Rodney who brought his toast with him.

"I guess we're about to find out what the council decided," Marcus said, a slightly nervous edge to his voice as he spoke.

"Decided about what?" Rodney questioned being the only person who didn't know what was going on yet.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Kuroima – **There's been a lot of damage to Elizabeth and Teyla's relationship, maybe an irreparable amount. I'm glad that Teyla came across well in the last chapter and that you liked the Laura scene, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thank you for the review, I'm glad you liked the description in the last chapter and there'll be more little glimpses of Sparky in the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the Shadow Warriors and the scene with John and Elizabeth fighting together. There is a little hope for Ronon and Teyla and I feel kinda bad for separating them but angst makes good story telling lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **It was towards the end of part one that John and Elizabeth became official, thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I love writing John, he just comes so easily to me and I'm glad you like the way I wrote him. Ronon will be making his appearance shortly, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jessy Luke – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind421 – **You'll find out the council's decision in this chapter, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 3

The council were all in their usual positions around the semi circular table, all of them watching the small group entering the room. The door closed behind them with a thud that echoed off the concrete walls before the room fell into silence. Rodney was still the only one with no clue as to why they were there, the others waited anxiously for the council to inform them of their decision.

"We will not release Emmagan or Dex," the lead councillor stated.

"What?" Rodney questioned. "Why would you have been thinking about releasing them in the first place?"

"The cloud wasn't destroyed," Marcus told him quietly, the council obviously had no intention of explaining this again. "It was shattered into Shadow Warriors which only Elizabeth and Teyla can defeat."

"Oh," Rodney replied after a moment, fear in his voice "Great."

"All of you will track down these creatures as you did the cloud," one of the councillors informed them.

"And what then?" Elizabeth asked in annoyance "Without Teyla I can't defeat them, what do you want us to do?"

"Perhaps you will be able to find an alternate method by which to defeat them and should you not; you can still keep them at bay. Emmagan and Dex have been imprisoned for treason and murder, we do not let such people out," the lead councillor said, a finality to his tone that told Elizabeth arguing would be a waste of time and energy. "You will depart aboard the Venture this afternoon, Dr McKay will remain behind for a moment, the rest of you are dismissed."

Though she wanted to argue, wanted to demand the council reconsidered their decision she knew better, once the council made up their minds it was damn near impossible to change them. Elizabeth turned and left the room with the others; all of them walking down the corridor away from the guards before stopping to talk.

"We already knew the council wouldn't let her out," Marcus stated with a shrug, there was a tension in the movement that hadn't been there that morning.

"I don't understand what they expect us to do, how can they send us on a mission with next to no information?" Laura questioned, her irritation becoming obvious and Elizabeth knew the next few days were going to be difficult for everyone.

"I think we should go pack and get ready," Carson stated, putting his hand on Laura's back in a gesture for her to follow him. She did so with an annoyed sigh, the two of them disappearing down the corridor in the direction of their room. At that moment the doors to council chamber opened again and Rodney walked out, a data pad in his hand.

"The council gave me some information to read through, they want us to leave in the next few hours," Rodney informed them, he looked nervous as he always did when he had to go into the field but with the prophesy and the dark force that had once been the cloud involved again he was more than entitled to his nerves.

"I guess we should all follow Carson and Laura's example and get ready, see you guys later," Marcus said before he turned and walked away down the corridor, Rodney followed and a moment later Elizabeth turned to John.

"I'll get my things from my room and then come and get the rest from yours," she told him and John nodded.

* * *

It felt incredibly familiar, the two of them packing up their belongings for a journey that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. At least, like the last time they had been sent to track down a dark force with the power to kill all humans, they were being sent together. Still, she felt a little nervous, the cloud had been a destructive force like none other and while these Shadow Warriors weren't as destructive, there was eight of them and between them all she was fairly sure they could make up for it.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Carson's voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up from where she was packing her clothes into the large bag.

"You don't know that," she told him, her voice calm and even despite the fear she felt, anyone but Carson would have thought she was completely ready for this; the truth was that no one ever could be, especially when they were stepping into something that was so unknown to them.

"No, you're right, I don't," Carson replied with a small smile which she forced herself to return. She was glad that Carson was coming along but he'd be in as much danger as the rest of them and that never sat well with her. Usually she was okay with it, Carson could take care for himself and this was as much his job as hers but the danger here was a lot greater. She kept her thoughts to herself though, Carson would be coming whether she liked it or not and she may as well get used to the idea. "Now you know how I feel."

"What?" Laura questioned in confusion, watching as Carson continued with his packing.

"When you go on missions, the ones that are really dangerous," he elaborated and Laura briefly wondered when he had learned to read her so well.

"You worry about me?" she questioned with a trace of humour and Carson walked around the bed.

"Even when you're standing right next to me," he replied, kissing her before going back to his packing. Laura smiled and shook her head as she zipped up her bag; she grabbed the second one, opening it wide enough to fit her guns in. She paused when she saw Carson raise an eyebrow at her and decided to forestall any protest he might have.

"Don't even say it, the guns are coming with me," she told him firmly. "We don't know how long we'll be gone and they're no good to me all the way back here."

"I wasn't going to say anything love," Carson said, his amusement obvious "But let me ask you, what do you love more, me or the guns?"

Laura looked thoughtful for a moment "I'll have to think about that one."

* * *

John was just putting the last of his clothes into his bag when he heard the door chime, he walked over to answer it, the door sliding away to reveal Elizabeth. He stepped back to let her into the room and she dropped the large black duffel bag onto his bed.

"I ran into Marcus on the way here, he's heading to the docking bay now, he said he'll make sure the Venture is prepped for launch," she stated, already heading for the drawer full of her clothes.

"Laura's probably packing every gun she owns and Rodney will be ordering everyone in the science department around until the last possible minute so they'll probably take a while," John told her as he walked into the bathroom, he picked up all of his toiletries, smirking when he found a bottle of Elizabeth's shampoo amongst it all. He took that as well and walked back into the bedroom to put everything in his bag.

"Were you disappointed?" John asked her and Elizabeth snapped her head up to look at him. "That they didn't release Teyla."

Elizabeth seemed to think about the question for a long moment before she shook her head slowly "No, I wish we had her help but I'm not sorry she's still in jail, she killed a lot of people, tried to kill me a couple of times, after everything she did she deserves to be in prison. She's not the person she was on Corlain... and neither am I, I don't think we can ever go back."

Elizabeth went back to packing, shoving things into the bag harder than before and John moved to her side. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him gently, she came willingly, burying her face into his neck.

"I just wish I could understand," Elizabeth said, taking a step back. "She helped me to destroy the cloud and I still don't know why. If it had been her conscious getting the better of her then she would be here now, helping us to stop these Shadow Warriors, not making demands and conditions."

"She's faced with a lifetime in a maximum security prison, I guess she sees this as a chance to get out," John replied and Elizabeth nodded her head and turned back to her suit case with a sigh.

"I guess innocent lives are just acceptable losses to her now, she helped to take a lot of them," she stated and John could hear the bitterness and the anger in her voice. He finished his packing and picked up his bag, waiting for Elizabeth to do the same before they left the room. The docking bay was only a short walk from his room and the venture was sitting at one of the ports, there were a few Alliance workers around, loading up the last of the cargo and doing their final checks before launch.

They entered the ship through the ramp at the back, smiling to the workers they passed on the way to the room that had been John's the last time they'd been here. In unspoken agreement they both left their things in the room, heading back out to make sure the ship was ready.

"I'm going to go find the others," Elizabeth stated heading to the back of the ship again. John watched her go before making his way to the bridge, Marcus was stood there talking to someone, he signed a data pad and then smiled to John as the young woman left the bridge.

"We're just about ready; most of the supplies are on board they're just brining in the last of Rodney's equipment. All the pre flight checks have been done, once everyone's on board we're good to go," Marcus explained.

"The others here yet?" John questioned and Marcus shook his head.

"Not as far as I know, just me, you and I'm guessing Elizabeth," he replied with a smirk and John narrowed his eyes at him, heading through to the cargo bay at the back of the ship. Elizabeth was talking to Laura as Carson headed into the ship with his and Laura's bags. Rodney was just coming through the docking bay doors, bags in hand, an annoyed looking Radek in tow along with a young woman John could easily recognise.

"Just don't mess up the tests, we've spent two months and a small fortune setting everything up," Rodney was saying as Radek just nodded and pretended he was listening, he pushed his glasses up his nose and sighed a long suffering sigh. John had to feel slightly bad for the man, working with Rodney almost everyday, including when he was at his most irritable, could not be fun.

"Everything will be fine Rodney, we've all been working on this as long as you, we know what we're doing," Radek stated and Rodney sighed.

"I know you know what you're doing, most of the team were trained by me," Rodney replied and the woman by his side smiled.

"I think what Rodney means is that he knows you're all perfectly capable and he'll miss you," she said and Rodney turned to look at her.

"If I'd meant that I would have said it," he stated and the woman just smiled again.

"I'll see you for another session when you get back," she told him "Good luck Rodney, all of you," she finished before turning to leave the docking bay.

"Bye Kate," John called after her and she turned around and waved briefly before continuing on her way. Rodney muttered something under his breath as he walked into ship and it was now that John remembered how much havoc had been created the last time this very group was stuck on a ship together.

"That's the last of em," Lorne said as he joined the group, "All the cargo is loaded and the alliance personnel are off the ship, we're as ready as we're ever gonna be."

"Then let's get going," Laura suggested. The four of them made their way to the bridge where Rodney and Carson were stood waiting for them. John sat down in the pilots chair and activated the comm. system.

"Port Control this is Agent Sheppard aboard the Venture, we are ready for take off," he stated and a moment later a female voice replied.

"Understood Venture, you are clear for take off through gateway 12," she told him and John switched off the comm.

"Here we go," he said quietly, starting up the ship engines and piloting the vessel out of the space port. It was a clear day, the few clouds passed by the ship in a blur and blue sky soon morphed into the blackness of space, dotted by stars and distant planets. It felt almost like they were back where they had been six months ago, like the months between then and now had never happened.

"These are the co-ordinates of the last attack," Rodney said, sitting at the sensor console and transferring the information to him. "It's as good a place as any to start."

"Arios," John said when he received the co-ordinates.

"It's got a good market," Lorne commented and John nodded his head.

"Arios it is then."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Steph – **I added Kate mostly for you so I'm glad you enjoyed that little part, I have to admit I love her character so I'll probably add more of her later in the series. I'm glad you liked the Laura and Carson scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Ronon and Teyla will be in the story more lately, Teyla will make another appearance in the next few chapters but for now they're mostly just hanging out in their jail cells. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I never do anything the easy way and that includes Ronon and Teyla's story line lol. Your review did make sense, that's exactly how I wanted it to come across, everyone thinking that Teyla just wanted to get out of jail when really she just wants to see Ronon. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Whirlwind421 – **I like to add little twists to my story, Teyla not getting out of jail was one of them lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, they'll run into the Shadow Warriors fairly soon, I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime.

**Jessy Luke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; I do have big plans for Ronon and Teyla, thanks for the review.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Optimism is always a good thing but Teyla and Elizabeth are very different people now, they won't be able to have what they had before but maybe they could have something else. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4

John was sitting at the table in the eating are with Rodney, Laura and Marcus as Rodney told them what he'd learnt from the data pad the council had given him. He didn't really know much more than the rest of them and John had to wonder if the council themselves did, he guessed that in this case they only really knew what the prophesy had told them. Elizabeth was helping Carson to cook dinner, the two of them listening in on the conversation.

"It's not that they don't have any mental control," Rodney was explaining, the data pad from the council in his hand. "Just a severely weakened one, again it goes both ways but I don't know how much good it will do this time, like I said the metal control is very weak, it might not have any affect at all."

"So how is Elizabeth supposed to fight these things?" Lorne questioned and Rodney shrugged as he leaned back in his chair, annoyance obvious in his features, Rodney McKay was not a man who could be content not knowing something.

"I have no idea, maybe she'll know when she gets there," he stated and John decided he really didn't like that. Going into these situations was bad enough, going into them with no idea what to expect or how to defend themselves was another thing entirely. At least with the cloud they'd known what to do, or rather what Elizabeth needed to do, they'd known she needed to use the mental connection to force the cloud to back down, this time they had nothing.

"What about destroying them?" John questioned.

"That I don't know, all the information says is that both Elizabeth and Teyla are needed to defeat them, without Teyla I don't know what we're supposed to do," Rodney replied with a sigh.

"How do they kill people, I doubt it's the same way the cloud did?" Laura asked.

"No, apparently they wrap themselves around their victims and some sort of lethal chemical passes from them into humans. That's one way they can kill, the data pad says there are others but it doesn't say what they are," Rodney said and Laura nodded her head slowly, like the cloud's method of killing, this one didn't sound too pleasant either.

"Is there a way we can find them?" Elizabeth questioned from the kitchen as she and Carson were putting the food onto plates.

"The same as the cloud, they show up as discrepancies in the sensor readings though in this case it's less likely to occur. Other than we just have to follow their trail," Rodney told them, taking a familiar looking device from his belt and putting it on the table. "This will alert me to any discrepancies like last time."

"Dinner's ready," Carson announced and everyone got up to get their food, settling around the table again.

"So basically we're flying blind hoping for a discrepancy to show up in the sensor readings that may or may not be what we're looking for," Lorne stated and when Rodney nodded his head he sighed "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"I don't like it any more than you do," John began, pushing his pasta around his plate with his fork before eating some of it. "But it's the only way we have to track these things."

* * *

Arriving on Arios John immediately spilt the group up, Carson and Laura went to gather supplies, it didn't hurt to do some shopping since they were in the market anyway. Everyone else headed to the local police station where John requested that Marcus and Rodney be shown to the sight where the shadow attacked. The two of them left the police station, Rodney looking just a little bit excited at the thought of finding something there.

John and Elizabeth were then led to the house of one of the witnesses; the majority had been kids, too scared to say much about what had happened especially given that they'd lost friends that day. Thankfully two of the witnesses had been adults, shaken up by the experience but able to give detailed statements on what they'd seen. John had sent copies of the police file back to the ship, hopefully they'd find something useful in it.

The policeman knocked on the door of the small house, the man who answered w as a large fairly well built guy. A little scruffy looking and he didn't seem to have had much sleep over the last few days, not that he could be blamed for that.

"Officer," he greeted his voice rough.

"Jerome," the officer replied "Sorry to bother you, this is Agent Sheppard and Agent Weir of the Alliance, they'd like to speak with you."

The man, Jerome, looked them over with a tired, wary expression before he nodded and stepped back. The officer waited outside as John and Elizabeth stepped through the door way, Jerome closed the door behind them gesturing for them to take a seat. There was another man sat on the couch, almost the exact opposite of Jerome, he was much smaller, blonde haired and blue eyed, the only thing they had in common was the tired looks.

"This is Andrew Maclan, he was there that day too," Jerome stated, apparently already knowing why they were here. John remembered the name from the police file; it would save them having to make another stop on their way back to the station.

"I know you're probably tired of explaining this but we need to know what happened the day Jamie Larson and Carl Tolan were killed," John began, it was probably best just to get straight to the point, get this over with as soon as possible and then go. The two men looked like they'd been through enough without having to go through yet more questions about what had happened.

"We were leaving the market when we heard someone scream down the alley, we went to see what was going on. There were some kids, they were staring down the alley and they looked terrified. There was another kid, Jamie Larson, he was dead and there was this thing standing over him, this shadow like thing. It was huge; it was just this jagged black mass, there were white slits where its eyes were..." Jerome began, trailing off as he recalled the monster that had taken those kid's lives.

"Jerome shouted for the kids to run, two of them made it, the shadow moved towards Carl, it was like it was floating and walking at the same time. It... wrapped itself around him, I don't know what it did but Carl was in pain and... then he was dead. We ran, ran as fast as we could but that kid's eyes, lifeless and somehow terrified, I'll never get that memory out of my head," Andrew finished, taking a deep breath and lifting a shaky hand to his head.

"Did the shadow try to follow you?" John asked after giving the two men a moment to collect themselves.

"Honestly, I don't know," Jerome replied. "We were too busy running, we never looked back."

"Have there been any other disturbances recently, any unexplained deaths or strange sightings, before or after that day?" Elizabeth questioned and they looked thoughtfully at her before Jerome shook his head.

"Actually," Andrew began "There was that woman, she died about a mile from here, it was in the park, police say she suffocated, some of her insides were burned, I don't know if that has anything to do with it."

"When was that?" John asked.

"About two days before those kids were killed," Andrew replied and John nodded, making a mental note to get the police report on that incident as well as any others. They had no way of knowing if the shadow was still here, if there had been more incidents since then they could probably figure that out.

"I think that's really all we need," John said as he headed for the door, Elizabeth following him. Both men stood up and followed them out of the house. "Thank you for your time."

* * *

After heading back to the station and going through about a dozen police reports, Elizabeth and John finally left to meet up with the others. They hadn't heard from any of them since they'd all split up that morning which Elizabeth assumed meant no one had gotten into any trouble. Carson and Laura were already waiting for them outside the space port, Laura was complaining about the fish smell while Carson explained that it was a fishing community.

"I don't care, it still stinks," Laura stated and then turned and smiled when she saw John and Elizabeth approaching. "Hey, have fun?"

"Yeah," John replied sarcastically. "Cos going through police reports for three hours was always gonna be the highlight of my week."

"Well, we did a lot of shopping, we left it all at the ship, did you find out anything useful?" Laura questioned.

"Not really," John said as he spotted Rodney and Marcus through the crowd, he waved them over and waited for them to weave their way through the people that were heading in a million different directions at once.

"There wasn't really anything at the site," Lorne stated, he didn't look like he'd had a particularly good day following Rodney around while he did whatever scientific things he had to do. Elizabeth felt kind of bad for him, she loved Rodney but he could be a pain at times.

"I gathered some soil samples and we headed over to the morgue, I got some blood and tissue samples. Marcus talked to the coroner, I wouldn't say it was a particularly productive day but it wasn't a wasted one either," Rodney said just as something started beeping on his belt, it took Elizabeth a moment to recognise the sound and everyone's eyes darted to the small device resting against Rodney's side.

He grabbed it and read the display, turning to make his way back to the ship before he'd even told them what they all already knew. The sensors had picked up a discrepancy; one of the Shadows had shown itself and the group now had a direction to head in. Everyone ran to the ship, heading immediately through to bridge where Rodney sat down at the sensor console and John took the pilots chair, informing launch control that they were ready to depart and getting clearance. Rodney sent the co-ordinates to the pilot's station and John took off as Rodney tried to figure out where the shadow might be going.

"If it's the same as the cloud then it's probably heading to the nearest human occupied world," Rodney stated. "Which would be Talzar but we have no way of knowing for sure."

"It's better than nothing," Lorne replied and John nodded his agreement.

"We'll head to Talzar; it's the best shot we got."

* * *

Talzar had been less than a day's journey from Arios; they'd all gotten some sleep and been awaken in time to dock in the space port. Despite being close together the two planets were very different, Talzar had only a small market, it was a quiet planet, mostly residential where people with a lot of money could set up a home and live in a fantasy land where working and war didn't exist. The illusion had already been shattered by the time the group arrived, they'd headed straight for the police station hoping they could warn them of what was probably to come. It had already arrived though, already claimed its first life. A forty year old man, married with two kids, a more or less happy home and a dog. They'd been living the perfect fantasy life and now there whole world was crashing down around them.

"That's the wife," one of the officers stated pointing to a woman sitting at one of the many desks in the room and Elizabeth and John headed over to talk to her. Rodney had already been sent to check out the scene along with Laura, while Carson and Marcus told the local police everything they knew about the Shadow Warriors, which wasn't really much and then went to observe the autopsy.

"Mrs Cahill," Elizabeth greeted as she and John sat down opposite the woman, she was probably slightly older than her husband had been. Her face showing the first signs of aging but also showing the tell tale signs of several plastic surgeries, probably an effort to keep the years from catching up on her. Her beige coloured suit had an almost business like appearance except the shirt was far too low cut in the front, revealing cleavage that was quite possibly fake.

The sadness on the woman's face was genuine though, her eyes were puffy and red, an obvious sign that she'd been crying and her eyes kept darting to the doors. The glass panes revealing two young boys, one no more than twelve and the other probably seven, both of them sitting on a bench quietly.

"They don't really know what happened," the woman said quietly as she looked back at Elizabeth. "They know their father's gone, that something killed him but they're too young to really understand, especially when I don't understand myself."

"We're extremely sorry for your loss," John stated "How much do you know?"

"The officer's just informed me that it was some type of shadow creature, I could have told them that part myself. They said it was something to do with Electus prophesy, I always thought that was nonsense, where are these people that can supposedly save us?" the woman replied, Elizabeth didn't react, she'd gotten so used to people talking about the Electus not knowing that she was right in front of them.

"I'm sure they're doing the best they can," John replied and Elizabeth saw him glance at her out of the corner or her eye. She supposed it wasn't really a lie, one of the Electus was trying, the other...

Elizabeth allowed John to continue the questioning, she wasn't really feeling very well and knowing that someone else had died because she wasn't there to stop it wasn't helping matters. She'd long ago accepted that she couldn't save everybody, she might be the Electus but she wasn't a superhero, she couldn't be everywhere at once and in the end she was only human. It didn't stop her from feeling just a little bit of guilt when someone died because of the prophesy, it didn't stop her wondering for a few moments if she could have prevented it somehow.

She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting back the small amount of dizziness that had crept into her mind. She was tired, she hadn't been sleeping properly since she'd found out about the Shadow Warriors and she was running on empty now, she was going to have to put all her worrying to the side and get some sleep tonight, she'd be no good to anybody like this.

* * *

Questioning a woman who had only a few hours ago become a widow had to have been the worst part of the week so far. She had obviously been on the verge of tears at several points, barely holding them back as she described the look on her husband's face as the creature killed him. They weren't really details that he needed to know but the woman obviously needed to talk about it so he'd let her continue. Elizabeth had been quiet through the whole thing, John knew she was tired; he'd been with her as she tossed and turned every night.

The woman walked out of the busy room to where her two boys were sitting, she hugged them both, talking to them for a moment before the three of them left. The day had barely begun yet and he was already looking forward to it ending.

He heard Elizabeth stand up behind him; she wordlessly walked over to the third story window and looked down at the street below them. He walked over to join her, following her gaze to the ground where a man was being dragged into the police station, clearly he wasn't happy about being arrested. Elizabeth's gaze shifted to the other people on the street, to the men and women who were living in this fairytale land of blissful ignorance, then to rest of the city.

"Elizabeth?" John questioned when she still said nothing.

"It's still here," Elizabeth said quietly, barely above a whisper as she stared out of the window, her expression seemed distant but there was an eerie focus in her eyes.

"How do you know?" John questioned.

"I can feel it," she replied, her voice seeming as far away as her expression.

John looked at her in concern, his worry for her probably obvious in that moment but he couldn't bring himself to care. He knew the toll that all this had taken on her last time, she was stronger now, more prepared for it but that didn't stop him from worrying. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's not like the cloud though, it's barely there at all and I can't pinpoint it but it's definitely here somewhere... and it knows I'm here," Elizabeth stated.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Sorry about the massive wait for this chapter, I feel so bad. I have many excuses I could come out with but let's just leave it as, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me lol. **

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the OC's I've added to the story, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **John and Elizabeth really do make an awesome couple, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I'm sorry about the wait.

**Whirlwind421 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry for the wait.

**Wormhole – **I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter, I hope this update was worth it and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **I hope this chapter makes up for the cliff hanger and the evilly long wait, thank you for the review.

**Jessy Luke – **Thanks for the review and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for review and sorry about the wait for this chapter, I hope it was worth it.

* * *

Chapter 5

The eating area seemed to have become some sort of unofficial briefing room for the mission, whenever they had something important to discuss they would all gather here. It made sense though; this was the only place on the ship suitable for this type of thing, it just usually ended in everyone having the dinner that Carson had cooked throughout. He was the only one of them that could cook anything decent, John, Rodney and Elizabeth would likely burn whatever they were cooking and anything they didn't burn would be too simple to be considered a meal, something along the lines of toast. Laura and Lorne couldn't and wouldn't cook if their lives depended on it, Laura had attempted to learn once and that had lasted for all of an hour, if they ever did try John was sure it would end in mass food poisoning.

"No Rodney, I've tried, I can't do it," Elizabeth said sounding exasperated at having to answer the same question a million times since the previous day. Her announcement that the Shadow Warrior was still on the planet had caused a slight increase in the tension the group was already feeling, obviously Rodney was the only one who showing a reaction to it, he'd become ever more annoying than usual.

"Are you sure?" Rodney questioned and Elizabeth sighed, dropping her head into her hand with a groan.

"She's sure Rodney, how many different ways do you want her to tell you that she can't sense where the Shadow Warrior is," John replied for her, sending a glare at Rodney that dared him to ask the question again, Elizabeth wasn't the only one sick of hearing it.

"Well excuse me for wanting to be sure," Rodney replied sarcastically.

"The rest of us were sure after the first few times she said it, the million or so since then weren't really necessary," John stated resisting the urge to stand up and smack Rodney over the back of the head.

"Okay, so if we're all sure that Elizabeth can't sense the Shadow's location," Lorne began with a pointed and rather irritated glance at Rodney. "Then we should start discussing how we _are_ going to find it."

"I don't know that we can," Elizabeth said solemnly.

"Elizabeth right, there's only two ways we're gonna find out where this thing is, if it shows up on sensors again or if someone sees it which will probably be too late for them anyway," Rodney informed them all and John clenched his fist on the table. He hated that all they could ever do was wait, they were always a step behind and that usually meant lives would be lost.

"So basically we just have to sit around and do nothing," Laura said, her voice full of the annoyance John himself could feel.

"It doesn't seem like we have any other choice," Carson stated from the kitchen as he continued to cook the group's dinner. "We'll just have to be ready to move at a moment's notice, go after this thing as quickly as we can, hopefully we'll catch it before it disappears again. In the meantime Elizabeth, I'd like to give you a check up, just to make sure there are no side effects of your connection to the Shadow Warrior."

"There shouldn't be," Elizabeth began "There weren't really any side effects from my connection to the cloud and that was a lot stronger."

"Aye but you did get headaches so I'd like to be sure, we can go to the infirmary after dinner," Carson told her and Elizabeth sighed again, it seemed she wasn't going to get out of it.

* * *

Elizabeth sat at the sensor console on the bridge, watching the small screen in front of her that informed her that the sensors were scanning both space and the planet continuously. She couldn't see what exactly the sensors were finding but the silently blinking word 'scanning' and the flashing lights assured her the scan was taking place. She wasn't even sure why she was sitting watching the repetitive display, there was nothing she could do about the outcome of the scan and if it picked up any discrepancies Rodney would be immediately notified.

"Elizabeth," she heard John's sleepy voice call from behind her and she turned around in time to see him walk through the door dressed in his baggy dark blue pants he usually wore for bed, his hair looking exactly the same as it had done before he had gone to sleep several hours ago. "It's 2am, what are you doing?"

"I couldn't sleep," she replied quietly and he moved to sit in the pilots chair beside her.

"So you thought you'd get out of bed and come and stare at the sensor console... that ought to put you to sleep," he joked and she smiled slightly and stood up, moving to sit on his lap and he immediately put his arms around her to support her.

"This whole thing is just so frustrating, I can sense these things when I'm close to them but I can't tell where they are, I can't defeat them without Teyla who the council refuses to release and I have no idea what to do when I'm standing in front of one them. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a little bit terrified," she admitted as she rested her head on his shoulder and John moved one of his arms to brush his fingers lightly up and down her arm.

"I'm a little bit terrified too," he told her and he could feel her smile. "Whatever happens, I'll be right next to you."

Elizabeth didn't say anything, she didn't want to admit that was one of the things she was afraid of, that she wouldn't be able to stop the shadow when she faced it and if the people she cared about were there they would be its next victims. It was the same thought that had plagued her when they had been chasing down the cloud and it was back with the same intensity, back to facing down creatures she knew she couldn't defeat.

After several minutes Elizabeth felt the sleep that had been evading her all night come down on her heavily. John must have noticed because he stood up, placing her back on the floor as he did so and took her hand.

"Come on, let's go back to bed," he said quietly as he led her off the bridge and though her thoughts were still plagued by thoughts of the dark shadows and the lives they could be taking that very moment she didn't have the energy to protest, she needed sleep whether it would be restful or not.

* * *

Lorne finished counting up all the supplies they'd brought on board the Venture, they'd figured since they were clearly going to be spending a couple of days here they might as well replenish the few supplies they'd used up during their journey. There was no sense in not doing it while they had the chance; they never knew when they'd get another one.

He was just heading through to the bridge when he heard the ship's radio crackle to life and he picked up his pace. On the bridge a male voice was coming through the small speaker on the sensors console. Lorne vaguely recognised the voice as one of the cops he'd spoken to while he'd been here. He dropped down into the chair by the console and activated the comm.

"This is the Venture go ahead," he answered.

"_This is Officer Tal, your shadow monster or whatever it is has been spotted on the southern outskirts of the city_," the voice of the officer informed him and Lorne sat up straighter. "_Timber Avenue, you might wanna hurry."_

The transmission cut off there and Lorne stood up immediately, reaching for his radio to contact the others, he hoped they hadn't gone too far. "Guys, come in," he said as he headed back through the cargo bay where he'd left his weapon and his control for the ships docking ramp. He picked up both and left the ship as the static on the radio was interrupted by John's voice.

"_What is it Marcus?"_ John's voice answered.

"Our Shadow Warrior's been spotted to the south of the city, some place called Timber Avenue, I'm already on my way there," Marcus told him and there was nothing but silence in response for several moments.

"_Alright we'll meet you there," _John finally said and Lorne nodded though he knew John couldn't see it. He closed the ramp to the ship behind him and then left the space port, stopping the first person to walk by him

"Excuse me, can you tell me the fastest way to get to Timber Avenue?" he questioned and the man smiled politely and pointed back the way he'd come.

"It's a long walk, you might wanna get a taxi but it's back that way," he said and then continued on his way. Lorne looked up and down the street, spotting a bright yellow taxi just down the road and made a run for it, crossing the street and almost being hit by another car in the process. He made it to the taxi just before the young couple that had also had their eye on it; he muttered an apology and jumped into the back of the cab.

"Timber Avenue please," he said and the driver hummed in acknowledgement before starting the engine and driving passed the couple that had found themselves another taxi.

Ten minutes later he finally saw the sign for Timber Avenue and could see the gathering of cops in the middle of the street; he thanked the cab driver, paid him and then jumped out of the cab, all but running down the street.

"Agent Lorne," Officer Tal acknowledged "We have another victim."

Lorne sighed inwardly as he followed Tal through the crowd of officer to where the body of a young woman was; at least he was fairly sure it had been a young woman. The body was burnt much like the victims of the cloud had been; the shape of her body was the only indicator left that it had once been a woman.

"Tiffany Heart, 24 years old, teacher at the local school, engaged to be married next week," Tal informed him and Lorne felt his stomach knot up more than it already had, if they'd been able to find the shadow sooner, do anything but sit around and wait, this woman would probably still be alive.

"Where was the shadow last spotted?" he asked, keeping his mind focused on the task at hand, if they could get to the cloud now, they might be able to stop it from claiming anyone else's life.

"It was seen heading towards the caves to south, I have some men heading down there now to see if they can see it," Tal told him and Lorne wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, these people had no idea what they were going up against.

"Just make sure they know not to approach it," Lorne said just as he spotted John and the others walking down the street. He nodded to Tal and then weaved his way back through the crowd of cops to join the others. "Shadow claimed another victim; apparently the it's gone further south, towards some caves."

"Then I guess that's where we're going," John stated.

* * *

Elizabeth lost her footing a she stepped down from the rock, her feet skidded to the ground and she had to place her hand on top of the rock to steady herself. They'd been searching the area south of the city for almost an hour and were beginning to lose light now. Rodney and Carson had returned to the ship ten minutes ago after Rodney's device had beeped, informing them all that something had been detected by the ship's sensors. They were probably just arriving at the ship now so they should know any minute what is was.

Climbing over another rock Elizabeth could see most of the area surrounding them, it was a large wide open field filled with large rocks, there were more rocks visible than grass and to her left Elizabeth could see the entrance to the cave system a short distance away. The group of searchers were making their way toward it; the caves seemed like a logical place to search for the shadow. Elizabeth had no way of knowing if the shadow was here or at the opposite side of the city, she could feel it's presence but whether they were closer or not she couldn't tell.

A voice from her radio made her jump and she tapped the ear piece at the same time she heard John's voice join Rodney's. "What have you got McKay?" he asked.

"The sensors picked up a discrepancy on the planet, to the east of your location, I superimposed a map of the area over the sensor readouts, it looks like it might be a cave or something," Rodney's voice told them.

"We're already heading that way," she heard Laura respond and Marcus murmured something as well. Elizabeth was focusing on the entrance to the cave, this was what she'd been waiting for, to find one of the shadow Warriors and stop it from killing anyone else. Now that the moment was here though, she felt a nervous, terrified even; she had no idea what she was supposed to do, how she was supposed to defeat it, or even if she could.

She took a deep breath and looked around her, John was a few feet away, Laura was to her right and Marcus was up ahead. She continued on her way to the caves, she was going to have to face these things sooner or later; she might as well get it over with. Everyone gathered at the front of the cave, Officer Tal had called his men out at John's request, well it was more of an order than a request, sometimes being able to order the local law enforcement around was incredibly helpful.

"You ready?" John asked as he moved to stand beside her, in all honesty she was no where near ready and probably never would be, no one in their right mind would ever say they were ready for something like this.

"I'm as ready as I'm ever going to get," she opted to say and John smiled slightly, a knowing look on his face, he understood how she felt, he was feeling it too. "Let's get this over with."

She stepped forward into the darkness of the tomb, grabbing her torch from her belt and switching it on. The beam of light did little to illuminate the dark cave even after it was joined by several others, Elizabeth prayed the light outside would last long enough for her to do what she needed to and that she wouldn't have to go so deep into the cave that the remaining sunlight couldn't reach her.

Tal was the only officer that followed the four agents into the cave, John allowed it though Elizabeth knew he'd rather the man waited outside, everyone in the cave was taking a serious risk. The noise of the officers outside faded away behind them as the group moved through the cave and the light was barely penetrating the dark now. Elizabeth saw something move out of the corner of her eye but when she turned to look she couldn't see anything, how were they meant to find shadows in the dark?

"There," she heard Laura say and the entire group turned to where she was now pointing her weapon and her torch. The other lights joined it, illuminating the dark corner and revealing the Shadow Warrior. Elizabeth resisted the urge to step back, the creature in front of her was terrifying, a dark figure in the shape of a person but with jagged edges and two white slits in what was shaped like a face.

The whole group seemed frozen, none of them daring to move or even breathe. The shadow wasn't even paying any attention to them, its focus was on her, it knew who she was and what she was here to do but it didn't seem afraid. She had to do something or it was going to kill her and everyone else here, she stepped forward slowly, the shadow watching her and she felt John tense up as passed him, her arm brushing against his. She stared at the creature and it stared back her as though they were sizing each other up.

Elizabeth still had no idea what she was supposed to do, unlike with the cloud there was no sudden epiphany that came to her in the moment, she was completely lost. The creature moved forward, it seemed like it was floating and walking at the same time, coming closer to her with every second and she still had no idea what to do. It moved quicker then, suddenly it was right in front of her and more shadow seemed to grow out of it, reaching for her, enveloping her. It radiated heat but it wasn't enough to hurt her, it wasn't going to burn her to death like it had done to some of its other victims, it had another plan for her.

Her skin began to tingle and she felt pain run through her body, intensifying as it spread through her and she bit her teeth against the feeling until she couldn't hold back the small cry of pain. She heard movement behind her and turned her head to see John moving toward her. As soon as he got close there was a small flash of light and a wave of air shot out of the shadow, throwing him across the cave.

She didn't even have time to see if he was alright, the pain became so strong it was unbearable, she could barely breathe. She struggled against it but it was like something was holding her, like the shadow that was wrapped around her was a rope, keeping her in place. It was killing her, it was doing something to her that was slowly killing her and if she didn't get loose in the net few seconds it was going to succeed. With the knowledge in mind she struggled harder, moving and twisting against the shadow that was holding her. Somehow she got her hands free, lifting them and unconsciously pushing at the shadow warrior.

There was light, between her hands and the shadow, it wasn't very bright but the shadow released her, moving back and disappearing, camouflaging itself into the shadows of the cave. As the shadow disappeared so did the rest of the world, her vision filling with blackness, she felt herself falling and the last thing she heard was John shouting her name.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Steph7085 – **I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you fell, too much anyway and where's Gangster's Paradise? Thanks for the review though and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Hello Sparkly, I'm glad you like this story and yes there will be more sparky in this and Magical Lantis (patience is a virtue you know lol). Thank you for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad no one was too bothered about the delay and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Sparky scenes are always adorable lol, thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the cooking scene and sorry about the evil cliffy.

**Jessy Luke – **Thanks for the review, I aim for the unexpected so glad that worked out lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 6

It took her a few minutes to come around but once she had she realised she was in the Venture infirmary. John was by her side, Carson to her left fussing over her and Laura and Marcus were stood by the door. Her head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it and her body was tired, drained of its energy.

"What happened?" she managed to ask her voice sounding as exhausted as she felt.

"We were hoping you could tell us," John replied. "The shadow attacked you, it looked like it was about to kill you, then some weird light came out of your hands and the thing backed off and disappeared."

Elizabeth thought for a moment, her memories coming back to her slowly. "It was testing me; they wanted to know if I had the power to defeat them."

Rodney walked into the room then, he smiled when he saw her awake but she didn't have the energy to return the gesture, she didn't have the energy to do much of anything, whatever she'd done to the shadow had taken a lot out of her. "The shadow left the planet," he stated as he moved to stand next to John.

"You sure?" Lorne questioned from near the door.

"Yeah," he replied "The ships sensors detected it leaving the atmosphere a few minutes ago."

"You said 'they' were testing you," John began thoughtfully. "What did you mean?"

"The shadows, they're... connected somehow," Elizabeth tried to explain, unable to find the words she needed to describe what she'd felt, what she'd learnt.

"What, you mean like telepathically?" Rodney questioned.

"No, it's not as strong as that, it's more like a very thin bridge between their minds, sometimes they can feel what another is thinking, sometimes they can feel what they're all thinking," Elizabeth explained as best she could sighing when it still didn't sound right.

"Well, you seem to be alright lass, if a wee bit tired," Carson announced having finished with his fussing. "I want you to take it easy for a couple of days but I don't see any reason to keep you here."

"Great," Elizabeth replied, meaning for it to sound much more enthusiastic than it did, it came out more exhausted than anything else.

"Get some sleep," Carson instructed her with a smile and John offered her his hand to hep her down from the bed.

"If the shadows gone there's no reason for us to stay here," John began. "Marcus, contact the local authorities and let them know the Shadow's gone and we're leaving as well, then get us out of here. I'll contact the council in the morning."

Marcus nodded and left the infirmary closely followed by Laura, Rodney stayed behind with Carson saying something about blood tests. Elizabeth followed John to their room, surprised at just how much effort it was taking her just to walk the short distance. She didn't even bother to change out of her clothes, just crawled into the bed and relaxed into it. She felt the bed dip beside her and turned onto her side to see John.

"You did good today," he told her brushing her hair away from her face.

"Yeah, I just wish I could do more, without Teyla there's no way I can defeat them, today made me acutely aware of that," she stated, closing her eyes and moving closer to John. "Were you hurt?" she questioned "When it through you across the cave."

"Nah," he replied "Just a bump to the head, nothing important was damaged."

She smiled and kissed him before curling into his side and quickly drifting to sleep.

* * *

The sound of the ships alarm had them awake and out of bed within seconds, even Elizabeth who was still exhausted from fighting the shadow was up and out of the bedroom. John ran to the bridge, pulling his shirt down over his head as he moved and listening to the sound of Elizabeth's footsteps behind him. The alarms were louder on the bridge, and he inwardly winced against the loud assault on his still tired mind. Elizabeth dropped into the chair at the sensors console at the same time as he took the pilot's seat and he was somewhat grateful when she switched the alarm off. Behind them Marcus arrived on the bridge only seconds in front of Laura and Carson, Rodney dragging himself along behind them.

"Sensors have picked up a Vernai vessel on an intercept course, it's a cruiser," Elizabeth informed them all calmly and John was sure he'd heard Rodney whimper slightly.

"At least it's not a command ship," Lorne stated optimistically.

"How long until it gets here?" John asked already moving the ship to maximum speed knowing full well they couldn't outrun a Vernai cruiser.

"Five minutes," Elizabeth replied after a moment and transferred the sensor information to his console. They had two options, try to run in which case the Vernai ship would know they had a reason to get away from them if they didn't already or continue as they were and hope the Vernai didn't recognise the ship. If he'd thought about it earlier he would have requested a different ship, using the same ship as last time probably hadn't been the best idea the council had come up with.

"What do we do?" Carson questioned.

"There's no way we can outrun a Vernai cruiser," Laura voiced his earlier thoughts and Lorne nodded his head in agreement.

"It's possible they don't even know who we are, I say we play it cool and hope for the best. If they already know we're Alliance then they're going to catch us no matter what we do, at least this way we have a chance," Lorne suggested and John thought about it for a moment, it was really the only choice they had.

"Alright, we'll wait and see what happens," John said turning to look at Elizabeth who was watching the sensor readouts intently. If they were boarded they'd have to find a way to hide her, there was only a remote possibility that the Vernai would recognise the rest of the crew but Elizabeth's picture would without a doubt have been circulated to the entire Vernai army.

"They're here," Elizabeth said and as if on cue a Vernai Cruiser dropped out of hyper space right in front of them, the much larger vessel looming threateningly over their small one. "They're hailing us."

Elizabeth stood up and moved away from the console letting Laura take her seat, she moved off the bridge, probably knowing as well as John did she would be recognised, but she stayed close so she'd know what was happening. Satisfied she was out of sight John turned and nodded to Laura who activated the comm. system, the face of a Vernai captain filled the screen, his officers still busying themselves with their duties in the background.

"Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded," the captain stated, politeness wasn't a particularly valued trait among the Vernai.

"Why do you want to board us?" John questioned.

"That's none of your business," the captain stated and John raised an eyebrow at him.

"This is my ship, anything that happens on it is my business, if you wish to bored us without a fight then you'll tell me what it is you want," John stated putting up a suitable amount of resistance, he had no intention of getting into a fight but he didn't want to seem too compliant.

"Please, your little ship wouldn't last five minutes in a battle with us, we could destroy you with but a few hits," the captain said smugly. A slight exaggeration but the man was right, their ship wouldn't last too long a in a fight with them.

"In which case, we'll be destroyed and you won't be able to get whatever it is you want from us," John replied, keeping his face completely neutral and the captain stared at him for several moments before finally answering the question.

"We were in a battle with an Alliance ship, we took some damage and lost some supplies, we need to replenish them. Now you can either co-operate or we'll take them by force, the choice is yours," the captain stated and John smiled slightly.

"Now see, was that so hard?" he questioned and took a great amount of pleasure from the captains annoyed expression. "We'll lower the shields."

John turned off the screen and stood up, moving over to where Elizabeth was standing. "Give us a minute and then lower the shields, I'll meet you all at the docking hatch," John instructed and then left the bridge taking Elizabeth with him. "I guess it's a good thing we're on a smugglers ship, lots of shielded places to hide a person."

"So we're sticking me in one of those dusty, cramped compartments that criminals would hide in when their ship was boarded by the Alliance?" Elizabeth questioned not sounding too thrilled with the idea and John smiled and nodded as he located the hidden compartment in the cargo bay. He opened it up, not liking the idea of shoving Elizabeth in there any more than she did. Elizabeth stepped forward and crawled into the small, narrow space, she looked particularly uncomfortable and John hesitated before closing the hatch. The faster he got this over with the faster he could get her out of there and hopefully she wouldn't have suffered any spinal damage from being cramped in there.

He arrived at the docking hatch to find the rest of the crew already face to face with a bunch of Vernai; he joined the group, smiling at the captain who had obviously recognised him from the transmission.

"You'll be wanting our cargo then, right this way," John said keeping his smile in place for the simple fact that it would continue to annoy the Vernai captain. He led them through to the cargo bay making sure not to glance at the compartment where Elizabeth was hiding; she'd be able to hear everything that was going on from in there.

"Search the ship," the captain ordered and his men nodded and began to leave the cargo bay, spreading out through the ship. The captain looked over him and his crew, his expression judging and wary. "This the entire crew?" he questioned and John nodded. "There's no one else on board?"

"Not that I know of," John replied, still smiling slightly and shifting his weight back and forth between his heals and his toes, hands tucking into the pockets on the track suit pants he was wearing. Trust the Vernai to show up whilst he was in his night clothes and barefoot, the rest of his crew were dressed identically though Lorne had actually pulled his boots on at some point.

"Start moving the cargo," the captain ordered his men that had remained in the room with him. They followed orders immediately, picking up crates and boxes and transferring through to their own ship.

"If it's not too much trouble can you leave one of the boxes of food for breakfast in the morning?" Lorne questioned only to be hit across the face by the butt of a weapon. "Guess not."

"We will take what we want, you will be grateful if we leave you with anything," the captain said as Lorne rubbed at his jaw with a look of mild annoyance on his face. His men that had searched the ship returned, one of them whispering something to their leader. "Why is your ship running continuous scans of space?"

"In case people like you show up," Lorne replied almost getting himself another smack across the face.

"Someone stole some of our cargo at our last stop, we're scanning for their ship," John lied and after an uncertain glance from the captain the rest of his men were ordered to help with moving the cargo. It took almost twenty minutes for them to take what they wanted, leaving the Venture without much of its cargo.

"Well, I'm going back to bed," Laura stated as soon as they Vernai had left and Carson quickly followed after her. Rodney leaving not far behind them muttering about the lack of food now left on the ship, they were going to have to make a stop to resupply tomorrow.

"Resume our previous course," John instructed Marcus who immediately went to the bridge. John quickly made his way back to the cargo bay and opened the hatch he had left Elizabeth in. She was still in their, cramped up and he grimaced offering her his hand to help her out. She climbed out and stretched out her muscles, wiping some dust from her clothes.

"How about we just buy me a wig and some glasses or something," she suggested and John smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"We'll make it our top priority," John told her, kissing the top of her head before he released her. "We're gonna have to stop for supplies anyway."

"Yeah, the cargo bay does look kind of empty now doesn't it," she stated looking around.

"Let's just go back to bed," John said tiredly.

* * *

The face of an Alliance council member finally appeared on the screen and John resisted the urge to sigh in relief, it had taken him almost an hour to get a clear signal through the Alliance and then to finally get transferred though to a councillor.

"We encountered one of the Shadow Warriors yesterday, Agent Weir confronted it and was able to fend it off but she was unable to defeat it. She believes that without Teyla Emmagan it is impossible to defeat them," John explained as briefly as he could, getting straight to the point, he didn't want to be sat here any longer than he already had.

"We cannot be sure from one encounter alone that there is now way to defeat the Shadow Warriors," the councillor stated and John ignored his irritation at the councillor's words. Elizabeth had said there was no way for her to defeat the shadows alone, that should be good enough for them.

"She was hurt in the encounter, next time it could be more serious," John told them.

"Perhaps we should try to recruit Miss Emmagan's help again," the councillor stated "One moment please."

The screen went blank again and John sat back in the pilots chair, Elizabeth walked in then and he smiled to her as she sat in the chair by sensors. She still looked tired from yesterday and given that their sleep had been interrupted by a not so pleasant from the Vernai, he couldn't blame her.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"They put me on hold," he replied, still slightly annoyed by the fact.

"You've been in here for an hour," she stated smiling sympathetically.

"I know that," he said "I really do, it sounds like they want to try and get Teyla on board again though."

Elizabeth stiffened slightly; he knew that despite her insistence that Teyla was a part of her past, that the bond between them was gone now, she still loved Teyla like a sister. It was hard for her to even think about Teyla, she never mentioned her unless she had to and going to the prison had been incredibly difficult for her.

The Councillor appeared on the screen again and Jon turned his attention to it "You are to return to the prison and speak with Emmagan; we will release her from prison if she agrees to help you."

"What about Commander Dex?" John questioned.

"He will not be released," the councillor stated simply. "Good luck."

The transmission cut off and John turned to look at Elizabeth, she seemed deep in thought for a moment until she finally looked at him. "She won't do it, not unless they release Dex as well."

"I didn't think so," John replied. "No harm in asking though."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Wormhole – **That would be pushing your luck just a little bit lol, but here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, of course I mentioned Gangsta's Paradise and I'll continue to mention it lol. Lot's of Ronon and Teyla to come, jus Teyla in this chapter though, I hope you enjoy it.

**Kuroima – **Here's the encounter with Teyla and I agree, damn Vernai hitting Lorne but I figured his mouth would probably get him into trouble. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Yeah, I know you have no patience and you'll get Sparky soon I promise. I could just imagine them all stood there in pyjamas all tired and half asleep. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jessy Luke –**Thanks for the review, there's more Teyla in this chapter and lot's of Ronon to come. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 7

Elizabeth had been wondering how long it would be before she'd be back in this room surrounded by the bare concrete walls, the only furnishings a table with a few chairs. Sitting beside John, Elizabeth stared at the empty chair on the opposite side of the table where Teyla would be sitting in the next few moments. She wasn't looking forward to confronting Teyla again, she had a feeling Teyla would say no despite the new deal on offer and Elizabeth would be left facing these creatures alone. At the same time though she selfishly dreaded her former friend agreeing to help, it would mean facing truths and demons she had barely managed to burry.

She felt John nudge her arm with his elbow; she brought her attention back to the present and turned to look at him, offering a small smile to assure him she was fine, as fine as she could be. He looked like he was about to say something but at that moment the door opened and Teyla walked in. Like last time she was wearing worn looking clothes, jeans with barely any of their blue colour left in them and tatty black top, frayed around parts of the hem.

She stared at Elizabeth as she walked into the room, casting only a brief glance at John before she sat down opposite them. There was a moment where the two women just stared at each other, cold expressions on both their faces but the barest hint of emotions in their eyes. Teyla's lips curled into a small smirk, an almost arrogant gesture that Elizabeth would never have been able to associate with the woman she'd once known. She'd come to accept that the Teyla she had grown up with was dead, she'd died back on Corlain and a part of Elizabeth had died there too, too much had happened, they'd never be those people again.

"Two visits in a few weeks, don't I feel special," Teyla stated "I doubt you're here for a staring competition, so why don't we just get on with it so I can go back to my cell."

"The council are willing to offer you a deal," Elizabeth began and Teyla's eyebrow rose in curiosity as she sat up a little straighter.

"They'll let you go free if you help us," John told her and Teyla looked slightly surprised, she'd obviously expected this meeting but maybe not the council changing their minds.

"And Ronon?" she questioned.

"He stays where he is," Elizabeth replied and watched as Teyla sat back in her chair with a sigh no longer interested in the conversation.

"Then I won't help you," was all she said and Elizabeth felt a brief wave of anger at her, at how easily she could allow these creatures to go on and take innocent lives when she knew there was a way she could stop all of it.

"They're not going to offer you a better deal," Elizabeth tried to argue, as much as she dreaded the demons she'd have to face if Teyla agreed to help them, she dreaded the consequences if she continued to refuse even more. There were lives at stake, a lot of lives and she'd seen what these Shadow Warriors could to people, she'd felt it and she wasn't prepared to give up on the only way she had to stop them.

"Then they won't get my help," Teyla stated standing up and heading for the door. Elizabeth searched her mind, desperate to find some argument that would make Teyla stop and turn around but she came up with nothing. She didn't know this woman anymore and what she did know didn't give her any reason to believe she'd help them even if she could come up with a compelling argument. Teyla walked back out of the room, escorted by the prison guard, a rather muscular looking woman who gave Teyla a slight shove as they moved. Elizabeth stood up then, sighing in frustration and resisting the urge to slam her fist into the wall or kick a chair over just to release some of the frustrated energy that was building up inside her.

"Elizabeth," John said calmly, his voice breaking through the angry, aggravated haze that had settled over her mind.

"I don't know what else to do John; I can't stop them without her," she told him, the despair in her voice obvious even to her. She didn't give John a chance to reply; instead she headed for the door and left the room. She could tell from the footsteps behind her that John was following her but right now she just needed a minute to pull her thoughts back together.

* * *

Teyla left the visitor's room behind and walked down the long concrete corridor, Officer Larrin was right behind her and if she shoved her one more time Teyla was going to start shoving back. She stopped in front of the metal gate that blocked the corridor and waited for Larrin to swipe her ID card and open the gate, a little ways down the corridor was another gate, this one requiring a pass code and Larrin entered that while Teyla stood there and stared at the grey walls. She'd almost thought that the Alliance were going to give her what she wanted but she should have known better than to get her hopes up so quickly. She only wanted two things, to get out of here and to see Ronon, she still didn't know what was between them, they'd been on the verge of figuring it out but if she was stuck in here for the rest of her life she'd never know. She knew she could take the deal and maybe, if she was lucky, she'd be able to go visit Ronon but she couldn't accept her own freedom while Ronon was still deprived of his, not when he'd given up everything for her.

Larrin gave her another shove when she'd opened the gate and Teyla swallowed back whatever insult tried to escape and continued walking. They stepped through the final gate into the long room that was her cell block, the walls on both sides were lined with cells on two levels and Teyla made her way to her cell a few steps ahead of the overly pushy Larrin. She stepped inside and turned around as the bars were closed, Larrin smirking slightly on the other side and Teyla rolled her eyes and went to sit down on her bed.

She'd barely taken her weight of her feet when something grabbed her ankles and pulled her from the bed, another inmate rolled out from beneath it and Teyla understood the smirk on the prison officer's face now. She hurried to her feet at the same time her attacker did, the much larger woman had something in her hand, something that reflected the light, a broken piece of mirror. This wasn't the first time Teyla had been set up, the guards in her block weren't the most moral of people, they hated Teyla for what she'd done and had no qualms about paying another inmate to teach her a lesson.

The large woman lunged at Teyla but months of training with Ronon made it easy for her to dodge it, the woman made another lunge for her, faster this time and she managed to catch Teyla's arm with the mirror, the glassy material cutting deeply into her skin. Teyla grabbed the woman's wrist and twisted it, forcing the broken mirror from her hands before she slammed her fist into the woman's face, hearing the crack of her nose breaking.

* * *

"Marcus contact the council, tell them Teyla is still refusing to help," John ordered as soon as he and Elizabeth had returned to the ship. Lorne nodded his head and went to the bridge to do as he'd been told as Elizabeth headed through to the kitchen, John followed her, he'd let her have her space on the way back from the prison but her silence coupled with the defeated look on her face was starting to worry him now.

Elizabeth busied herself making a sandwich and John watched her for a moment as she purposely avoided looking at him. She ignored him when he said her name so he stepped in front of her, preventing her from continuing with her task and she held onto her stubbornness for a moment longer before finally meeting his eyes.

"Not now John," she said quietly, almost pleading with him to let the subject go but he continued to stand their silently, waiting for her to say whatever it was that was eating away at her. "Fine," she breathed in exasperation. "I wish she'd help us, despite accepting that the Teyla I knew is dead and gone I still wish that there was just a little bit of her left, a little bit that would make her help us."

"Do you miss her?" John questioned and Elizabeth seemed to take a moment to think about the question.

"I miss the Teyla I used to know but I've moved on from losing her, the woman in that prison is a stranger to me," she replied and John nodded his head knowing she'd feel better just from saying it all out loud. "Can I get to my sandwich now?"

"No," John said and Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him as he smirked, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She went willingly, smiling against his lips when he kissed her. They were interrupted by Rodney running through the room, the familiar black device in his hand, he went straight through the room, from one door to the other, toward the bridge shouting 'It found one, it found one' as he went.

"Guess we should see what that was about," Elizabeth said, staring at the door Rodney had just run through. She and John made their way to the bridge; Rodney was in the sensor console with Marcus stood behind him.

"There's a shadow on the planet," Rodney stated "Just slightly south of the prison."

"Get Laura and Carson, meet us in the cargo bay," John told Marcus who then hurried off the bridge as John turned to Rodney. "You're coming as well this time, try and get some readings."

Rodney looked like he wanted to protest but wisely shut his mouth and walked off the bridge grumbling about the many ways he could die. John then looked at Elizabeth, she was biting her bottom lip like she was always did when she was thinking or nervous, or both.

"We'll work something out," he stated drawing Elizabeth out of her thoughts. "Maybe Rodney will find something that will help."

Elizabeth nodded though she didn't look any more confident than she had a moment ago and John could honesty say he didn't feel it either but they both had jobs to do.

* * *

Apart from the prison and a very small neighbouring town where the prison workers lived Halon was pretty much unpopulated. There were very few artificial structures away from the town and prison, an old power plant, a few cabins, nothing that was likely to have people in it. The population here was very low so it was surprising that the Shadow had chosen to come here. It was most likely heading toward the prison attracted to the mass of life there, the only place on the planet with as much life in it. So that was where they'd started, making their way south of the prison to where the Shadow had been spotted on sensors almost two hours ago.

They were currently passing through a large wide open field which seemed to stretch on for miles, empty aside from the occasional tree. If it was anywhere in the area it should be easy to spot but so far they'd seen nothing. Elizabeth could feel it, the dull presence in the back of her mind but like before she couldn't pin point it, couldn't even tell if they were close only that the shadow was here... somewhere.

The group were all walking separately, spread out through the field in the hopes that someone would see something. Sunlight was shining down on them and without anything to cast shade it made the job that much harder.

She caught sight of something, hiding beneath one of the few trees, using the tiny amount of shade to camouflage itself. The shadow was watching them, waiting for the right moment to attack and take someone's life and Elizabeth stared at it as it stared back at her.

"John," she shouted after a moment and didn't bother checking if he'd heard her, he was the closest to where she was standing so he should have been able to hear her. She walked slowly toward the dark creature as it inched its way out of the shade, its white eyes fixed on her now. Whatever it was she had done last time, however she'd repelled the other Shadow she needed to figure it out, needed to be able to tap into it again, learn to tap into it at will. She got closer to the shadow but unlike last time it didn't speed up, in fact it stopped, so suddenly it made her stop as well only a few feat away from it. It lifted its arms – if they could be called that – toward her and they seemed to grow like last time, the shadow seemed to create more of itself as it reached for her, the long dark limbs wrapping around her again and it felt like something was pulling her toward it.

Struggling didn't help, if anything it made the hold this thing had one her tighter and she felt a pain similar to what she'd felt last time. Then there was a flash of light but this one didn't come from her, it came from the shadow, the part that was wrapped around her and she felt a sharp pain, felt it tear through her body like a wave and then everything was black and the pulling was gone. She could feel herself falling, felt her body hit the ground and her vision returned to her for a second, the blurry image of the retreating shadow filling her mind only a second before it went blank again.

* * *

The doctor finished with the stitches in Teyla's arm, the other woman had already been escorted back to her cell with her nose all dressed up so it would heal properly. Teyla had been left to sit on the bed for a while since her injury wasn't serious, just a couple of stitches and now the young doctor was bandaging her arm to protect the minor wound.

"You should be more careful, a little deeper and this would have been a serious wound," the doctor told her with a small smile. He was new here, he probably didn't even know who she was yet but she was fairly sure someone would inform his sooner or later and he'd start ignoring her outside of what was necessary. She didn't care much, the people here didn't mean anything to her and the only person that perhaps did was probably a hundred light years away.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied as the doctor finished with the bandages and she jumped down from the bed waiting for the prison guard that would escort her back her cell.

A flurry of people came running through the door then, a group of doctors judging by the white coats, there was a stretcher in the middle of them being pushed along. A few more people followed the doctors and Teyla recognised them immediately as the people Elizabeth had been working with, all of them looked terrified, especially the Agent that Teyla was fairly sure Elizabeth was involved with.

Teyla turned to look at the stretcher, only catching a glimpse of a red shirt through the hustle and bustle and it was another minute before she final saw the patient's face... Elizabeth.

"The Shadow hit her with some kind of energy, her heart stopped for several seconds," a familiar accent stated and Teyla saw Dr Beckett among the group of doctors tending to Elizabeth. A wave of something hit Teyla, it might have been guilt, Teyla had refused to help but she hadn't considered that Elizabeth would then go and face down the Shadow Warriors alone. It was her fault that the woman was now lying on the stretcher fighting for her life.

She closed her eyes pushing back that feeling, those thoughts, Elizabeth had abandoned Teyla to her fate twice, this was the only chance she and Ronon would ever get at freedom and she wasn't going to give it up because of some feeling of guilt that would probably only last a few minutes.

The machines the doctors had already attached to Elizabeth started beeping incessantly and the flurry of activity went up a notch. "She's going into cardiac arrest, get the panels," someone shouted and Teyla bit her lip whilst the woman stood beside Agent Sheppard put a hand on his shoulder. They all looked desperate, terrified and Teyla wondered if anyone would care that much if it were her lying on that bed instead, on second thought she knew they wouldn't.

"Clear," she heard Beckett shout and Teyla looked back at the stretcher in time to see Elizabeth's body jolt with the electricity running through it but the machines kept beeping furiously.

"Let's go Emmagan," a woman said beside her, it was Officer Larrin again, the large woman grabbed Teyla's arm and pulled her toward the door, ignoring the mild resistance Teyla was putting up. Just as she was being dragged out of the door, Teyla heard the machines start to calm down and a coughing sound that had to be Elizabeth regaining consciousness.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Sparkly – **Thanks for the review, I'm really glad you enjoyed the last scene; my aim was to create a little tension lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **No need for apologies lol, I'm glad you enjoyed the last two chapters. I figured I needed a catalyst to get all these stubborn people to appreciate the situation a little more, Elizabeth getting hurt seemed like a good one. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jessy Luke – **Ronon will be coming up soon and there's more of Teyla in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Wormhole – **Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Of course I make John's girls bad guys, anyone who gets in the way of my ships becomes and enemy lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, Teyla isn't the bad guy she thought she was and she still feels something toward Elizabeth even if she won't admit it, not even to herself.

* * *

Chapter 8

John resisted the urge to glare at the blank screen as he waited to be put through to a council member. He really didn't want to be here but this was an important conversation that he needed to have with the council himself otherwise he'd have sent one of the others to make this report. Finally the aging face of a councillor appeared on the screen, her face a blank, neutral expression that John figured was probably trained into all council members.

"Agent Sheppard," the woman acknowledged with an almost imperceptible nod of her head.

"We encountered another Shadow Warrior," John stated, getting straight to the point, the faster this conversation was over with the faster he could get out of here and return to the prison.

"On Halon?" the council woman questioned.

"Yes, we found it a couple of miles south of the prison. Agent Weir confronted it and was severely injured, she's currently lying in the prison infirmary, she almost died in her attempt to stop the shadow," John explained, reigning in his emotions at the memory of the line on the heart monitor going flat, Elizabeth's body jerking as electricity was passed through it in an effort to get her heart beating again.

"That is unfortunate, how long will she be kept in the infirmary?" the woman asked and John swallowed back his anger, they weren't even bothered that Elizabeth had been hurt, almost killed, they just wanted to know how soon their Electus could get back to work.

"Not long, Dr Beckett will be able to take care of her aboard the ship," John replied and then got around to the important part of the conversation, the part he couldn't send someone else to do. "You are already aware that Emmagan refuses to help us unless Dex is released."

"Dex will not be released, we stand by that decision," the councillor told him almost cutting him off with her adamant statement.

"Elizabeth cannot defeat these things alone; she has confronted them twice now and both times she was injured, the second time very severely. It should be obvious now that there is no alternative but to enlist Teyla's help, whatever the cost it can't be higher than the number of lives that will be lost while both the Council and Teyla stand by their stubborn positions," John said, he knew he was stepping over a line but he had to make the council understand. He had to make them change their minds and give Teyla what she wanted otherwise Elizabeth, probably the crew of the Venture and who knew how many innocent people were going to die.

The council woman looked taken aback, under normal circumstances John would have been proud of that but there was too much on the line here. "One moment please," she finally replied and disappeared, probably to confer with the other members of the council and John could only pray he'd gotten through to them.

He waited anxiously, tapping his fingers on the console as he stared at the screen willing it to come back to life with the answer he needed. It seemed like an eternity before the council woman reappeared, her expression once again neutral.

"The council will agree to Emmagan's terms, both she and Dex will be released, all charges against them dropped on the condition that Emmagan help to destroy the Shadow Warriors, good luck Agent." The woman disappeared from the screen again as abruptly as she she'd returned to it and John leant back in his chair with a heavy sigh. Maybe now they would actually stand a chance of destroying these things and going back to what they allowed to pass for normal. Compared to this, hiding in trenches while the Vernai threw bombs in all directions was a safe job.

* * *

Elizabeth pulled on her boots, after a day in the prison infirmary she was glad to be leaving. The others were all back at the ship preparing to leave Halon and she was more than ready to join them despite the doctor's protests that she was not yet fit enough. She'd been through worse and she was still here to talk about it and she had a job to do, it didn't matter how scared she was she wasn't going to hide out in an infirmary.

John walked in and she saw the look on his face, he had something to tell her and he wasn't entirely sure she was going to like it. She felt a wave of nervousness hit her, that expression was usually reserved for 'we have to go fight another shadow' or 'the cloud has killed more people'.

"What's wrong?" she questioned before he'd even reached her.

"They're letting them out," John replied simply and Elizabeth didn't need any further explanation to know what he was talking about, still it didn't hurt to be sure.

"Teyla and Dex, they're letting them both out?" she asked and John nodded. "What made them change their minds?"

"This latest incident, I think it's pretty obvious that we need Teyla's co-operation and this is the only way we're going to get it. We're taking Teyla with us today and then we're to head to Alara to pick up Dex," John explained absently playing with a loose curl of her hair and Elizabeth took a moment to let the idea settle. She was going to be working with Teyla, Dex too by the sound of it; she wasn't sure how well this was going to turn out. "I'm on my way to tell Teyla now, thought you might want to come."

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied after a moment "Just give me a second."

She finished pulling on her boots and left the infirmary with John, her thoughts running around her head too fast for her to grab onto one. When they reached the visitor's room Teyla was already there waiting for them. She looked at Elizabeth as she entered the room, her eyes seeming to study her before she looked at John.

"The council will release both you and Dex on the condition that you help to destroy the Shadow Warriors," John stated, getting straight to the point and Teyla stared at them in surprise, a mixture of disbelief and hope in her eyes.

"Both of us?" she questioned and John nodded.

"You have one hour to pack anything you want to bring with you," John told her and then turned to leave. Elizabeth looked at Teyla for a moment longer before she followed John out of the room.

"Do the others know?" she asked.

"Yeah, they don't sound too thrilled but I think they're all glad that we actually have a chance of stopping these things now," he replied stopping in the middle of the corridor to look at her. "You had everybody pretty scared."

"Sorry, I'll try to stop doing that," she replied only half joking.

John kissed her forehead and Elizabeth glanced around to make sure no one was there to see them; their relationship was still a secret from the Council and everyone outside of their friends. "That would be appreciated."

* * *

Teyla was escorted to the front of the prison by Officer Larrin who glared at her the entire way. The other officer's that she passed sent dirty looks her way too but Teyla couldn't bring herself to care. She was getting out, Ronon was getting out and that's was all she'd wanted since the two of them were thrown in prison 6 months ago.

At the forefront of her mind though was Elizabeth, she was going to have to work with her and that was going to be... strange. She was glad that Elizabeth was alright; she hadn't been sure when she'd been ushered out of the infirmary yesterday but she'd seemed okay. Hopefully the two of them would be able to destroy these Shadow Warriors, Teyla had to admit to feeling nervous about that, the cloud had been hard enough to handle, it seemed like these things were going to be much more of a challenge.

Agent Sheppard and Elizabeth were waiting at the front gate; the two of them stood talking behind the metal bars that blocked Teyla's way. She stopped at the desk, receiving a small bag with her personal belongings in it, some clothes, a necklace, a few of the books that Ronon had got her before they'd left the Vernai. They were her things that had been taken from her and reclaiming them felt more like freedom that being escorted out of the prison by the officer who had more than once set her up.

Larrin finally opened the gate and Teyla stepped through it to meet them, they both looked at her for a moment before Elizabeth broke the silence. "Do you have everything?"

"She has all her personal belongings, Agent Weir," Larrin replied for her and Teyla frowned, Agent Weir, it sounded foreign to her. "I'll need you both to sign her release papers."

Elizabeth and the other Agent nodded and took the clip board from Larrin, both adding their signatures before handing it back and Larrin gave Teyla one last hateful look before she left. Teyla resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the woman and instead glared at her retreating back for a moment.

"Let's go, the others are waiting," John ordered and the two of them walked away leaving Teyla no choice but to follow them. Stepping outside Teyla felt fresh air for the first time since she'd been brought here, the cool breeze blew against her skin and the sun shined down on her, it felt surreal, like something from a past life. There was a car waiting for them and John and Elizabeth took the front seats, waiting for Teyla to get in the back before they left.

"Let them know we're on our way, I want to leave as soon as we get there," John instructed Elizabeth who nodded and picked up her radio.

"Venture come in," she said into the small black device and there was a moment of static before a male voice responded.

"This is the Venture, you two ever coming back?" the voice joked and Teyla watched as Elizabeth smiled and the other Agent smirked.

"No Marcus, I'm just calling to let you know that we've become rather taken with the accommodations here and we're planning to stay," Elizabeth said smiling.

"John got you both arrested didn't he?" the man, Marcus, questioned and Elizabeth started laughing while Agent Sheppard frowned and tried to look indignant.

"We're on our way back Marcus, John wants to leave as soon as we get there," Elizabeth replied getting the conversation back on track.

"Well all our supplies are on board, everything's ready here. We have another report of a Shadow attack not far from Alara so if nothing else comes up we can head there after we pick up Dex," Marcus informed her and John and Elizabeth exchanged a glance. Teyla felt her nerves kick up a notch at the mention of the Shadows Warriors.

"Okay, we'll be there soon," Elizabeth said ending the conversation and the car fell into silence.

* * *

Rodney stood in the cargo bay with Laura and Carson waiting for John and Elizabeth to arrive with the new addition to the crew. There had been mixed reactions to the news that they now had Teyla's help, that she would be joining them on this mission. Everyone was glad that they actually had what they needed to stop the Shadows, that the danger to Elizabeth would hopefully decrease but at the same time they didn't like the idea of having Teyla on board, she was a traitor and a killer.

Lorne was on the bridge ready to take the ship back into space as soon as John and Elizabeth got there. At the bottom of the ship ramp a few space port workers walked by, the port here was quiet, almost completely empty except for the Venture and a couple of transport ships. This wasn't a planet that got many visitors; people who cared about their loved ones enough to look passed the crimes they had to have committed to land themselves here were probably few and far between. Other than that the only ships to come and go from here were those carrying personnel and prisoners.

"They're here," Laura stated and Rodney looked down the ramp to see John and Elizabeth walking onto the ship, Teyla right behind them. "We're ready to go, Marcus is waiting on the bridge," Laura said with a brief glance at Teyla, doing well not to let her dislike for the woman show.

"Alright, go tell him to take off," John instructed and Laura nodded and left as Elizabeth walked over to the ramp's control panel and hit the button to close it.

"Rodney did you get any readings from the encounter with the Shadow yesterday?" John questioned it was the first time anybody had mentioned it; they'd all been too busy worrying about Elizabeth.

"Yeah, Carson and I are still analysing the data along with the information we got from the encounter before that," Rodney replied and John nodded turning to Elizabeth. "Why don't you show Teyla to some quarters?"

"Sure," Elizabeth replied "This way."

"And then come and see me in the infirmary," Carson ordered and Elizabeth looked like she was about to protest but Carson cut her off. "No excuses lass, your heart stopped beating yesterday," the doctor reminded her and Elizabeth rolled her eyes before leading Teyla out of the cargo bay. Rodney felt the ship's engine start, they were heading to pick up Ronon now and things aboard the ship were only to get more awkward then.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, there'll be plenty of confrontation between the former Vernai and the Alliance over the next few chapters, I hope you enjoy this one.

**Jessy Luke – **Sorry if the last chapter was a little short, this one's longer so I hope that makes up for it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter, things are definitely going to start getting more interesting now and tensions are gonna be pretty high aboard the ship. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Team banter is one of my favourite things to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it. You'll get you reunion in this chapter so I hope you like it and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for the review, here's your encounter with Ronon, I hope you enjoy it.

**Sparkly – **I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 9

Ronon threw the small brown ball at the grey concrete wall, the same wall he'd been throwing it at every day for the last six months. He caught the ball as it bounced back to where he was sitting on the bed, repeating the motion again and again. He could say with complete honesty that he hated this room, the three concrete walls and the fourth one made up of metal bars. There was no room to move around, other than a few hours a week where he got to visit the prison gym he was more or less stuck sitting on this bed throwing the ball at the wall. He wasn't a guy who could spend this much time sitting still; it was slowly driving him nuts though he'd never show it.

"Knock it off Dex," the man in the next cell shouted in annoyance. Ronon had only ever caught a few brief glimpses of him when on of them was being taken out of the cell for one reason or another. He had a rather impressive tattoo leading from his bald head to ho his neck. The clothes he wore were even more moth eaten and tatty than Ronon's, he'd obviously been here a while. He liked to brag about the murders that had landed him here in the first place, 18 separate murders, all young innocent victims killed in brutal, horrible ways. He was on the list of people Ronon suspected would be used by the guards in one of their set ups. He hadn't been used yet but there were hopefully many years left in Ronon's life, plenty of time left for him to get his turn.

Continuing to throw the ball at the wall Ronon ignored the man's second shout of irritation, barely startling at the sound of metal on metal, one of the guards running his baton across the bars of his cell.

"Quit it," the man growled, cold hateful eyes staring him down and Ronon caught the ball again holding it in his hand for a moment before putting it down on his bed.

"Officer Kree, am I giving you a headache?" Ronon questioned as though he actually cared about the man's health.

"No, I just don't think a murderous traitor should be allowed the entertainment of throwing a ball at a wall," Kree replied with a smug grin and Ronon smirked.

"Well why don't you come in here and take it?" Ronon suggested knowing the guard wouldn't dare come into the cell without a buddy or two standing close by; if he did he would have taken the ball already. "Thought not and of course all your searching of my cell during the rare moments I'm not in it have yet to provide you an opportunity to take it when I'm not here. Want me to tell you where I hide it?"

Kree glared at him and Ronon went back to throwing the ball at the wall pretending not to notice the guard still stood there. "You'll get what you deserve Dex, scum like you always do."

Ronon turned to look at him again feigning shock "You're still here; I thought you'd gone to annoy some other prisoner."

"Careful Dex, one word from me and you go back into solitary," Kree warned and Ronon resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"The only difference between this cell and solitary is that solitary doesn't have lights, I haven't been afraid of the dark since I was two, have you seen me come out of that room looking any more affected by it then when I went in yet?" Ronon questioned wondering what it was about solitary that kept some of the other prisoners in line; there was nothing scary or disturbing about sitting in a dark room for a few days. "And you still won't get my ball."

That was apparently enough for Kree, he reached for his keys calling for two of his guard friends to come and back him up, shouting something about the prisoner exhibiting threatening behaviour both to himself and Kree. Ronon didn't even move from the bed, if the three guards wanted to come in here and play 'tough guys' that was fine, Ronon would beat them all.

"Kree," someone shouted and the guard stopped what he was doing, turning to the source of the voice. "Dex has visitors, bring him to the visitor's room."

"Sir, he threatening both his own life and ours, he just tried to attack me through the bars, I was about to put him in solitary, he can't have visitors," Kree replied but Ronon wasn't concerned with him now, his mind was too busy wondering who the hell could be coming to visit him.

"I'll rephrase, he has important visitors that can supersede your authority as well as mine, bring him to the visitors room now," the voice shouted back and Kree cursed under his breath, unlocking the door and waiting for Ronon to leave the cell, the two guards he called earlier stood behind him with their batons in hand.

"Looks like it's your lucky day," Kree stated as he closed the cell door again and grabbed hold of Ronon's arm to lead him through the prison to wherever the visitor's room was.

"Looks like it's yours," Ronon replied only to receive a baton hit to the back of his legs, knocking him down to his knees. He would have hit the guard back as he stood up but he was too curious to see who these visitors were to risk his chance to see them though by the sound of it they would probably see him anyway.

"Chief said I had to get you to the visitor's room, he didn't specify what condition you were to be in so I'd keep that mouth of yours shut," Kree told him threateningly and for once Ronon did as the guard said though he was going to make him pay for the unwarranted hit from a baton later. He stayed quiet as he was led through the prison, the concrete corridor's drifting by in a blur until he was finally led into a small room. It wasn't much different from his room, except slightly bigger and no toilet, rather than the bed there was a wooden table, one chair on the side nearest him and two on the other. There was a second door opposite him; one he guessed was for the few visitors that came here.

Kree all but pushed him onto the chair, giving him a threatening look before moving to stand by the door behind him. Ronon just sat there, waiting for whoever these people were to arrive; no doubt they were still trying to make it through the building's tight security. He tapped his fingers on the table out of boredom ignoring the annoyed grunt from Kree.

The other door finally opened and Ronon was shocked to see two familiar faces walk through it, Elizabeth and the other Alliance Agent. He mind began racing with possibilities, trying to figure out why the hell they would be here, the most nerve wracking being that something had happened to Teyla.

"Mr Dex," the man said as he and Elizabeth took their seats. "I'm sure you remember us, Agent Sheppard and Agent Weir," he reminded Ronon, the loss of his 'commander' title being something he'd gotten used to long ago. Sheppard looked much the same as he had done before, Elizabeth seemed more comfortable with herself, she looked much more like the calm Alliance Agent she was.

"There a reason for this visit?" Ronon questioned, he had too many thoughts running through his head and he wanted answers fast.

Elizabeth looked up at Kree "You can go."

"That's not a good idea; this man is a dangerous prisoner..." Kree began to protest, his tone almost patronising but Elizabeth cut him off.

"I know who and what this man is and that wasn't a suggestion it was order," she told him, authority radiating from her, this was not the timid woman he'd seen on Corlain, like Teyla she'd changed a lot since that day. Kree seemed stunned into silence and Ronon turned his head to see the arrogant guard open and close his mouth a few times before he left.

"We came here to offer you a deal," Sheppard told him, it seemed the two agents were as eager to get to the point as he was.

"The Electus prophesy is not over, the Cloud wasn't destroyed merely shattered into eight very powerful creatures that we call Shadow Warriors. If you help us to track and destroy them you'll be released," Elizabeth told him being as unforthcoming with information as he would have expected.

"Why me?" he asked.

"We don't have time to explain everything here, the only question that needs an answer is whether or not you'll help us," Sheppard told him "We're not authorised to tell you anything more unless you agree."

"After spending the last six months enjoying the wonderful accommodations the Alliance has provided me with, why would I want to help you in any way?" he asked, genuinely wondering why they had thought he would agree to help them.

"We thought you might say something like that," Elizabeth said as she and Sheppard stood up. Ronon stood as well when Sheppard walked over to the door, a look on both Agents faces that said they had something up their sleeves. Sheppard opened the door and Ronon almost had to sit back down again, all of his thoughts freezing as Teyla walked into the room. They both just stood there for almost a minute, staring at each other before Sheppard broke the tense silence in the room.

"You can come with us and help us or you can go back to your cell, the choice is yours but we don't have a lot of time so we need your answer now," he stated and Ronon kept his eyes on Teyla for a moment longer before looking at the two Agents.

"I'm in."

* * *

Teyla left her room aboard the Venture; she'd spent almost the entire journey from her prison to Ronon's in there having no reason to leave. It had been abundantly clear to her that she wasn't wanted here, that the crew of the Venture would have preferred to do this mission without her and were only accepting her presence because they had no choice. The only two people she'd actually spoken to were Agent Sheppard and Elizabeth and those conversations had been brief and to the point. They only said what they had to which hadn't been much, probably a sum total of twenty words since they'd walked out of the women's prison on Halon.

They'd left Arios twenty minutes ago with Ronon on board and Teyla had yet to get the chance to speak to him. After over six months without seeing each other she was actually trying to put it off, trying to find reasons to talk to him later. She'd taken a shower and changed into some clean clothes, something she didn't have much of. She'd gone to the kitchen and grabbed something to eat, taking it back to her room only to discover she couldn't eat it and now she was out of reasons to procrastinate.

She walked the short distance between her room and his, they'd both been put at the end of the left corridor, most of the Venture crew were in the right corridor, only Rodney had a room in the left and he was at the other end of the corridor close to the kitchen. She took a deep breath, hesitating before she knocked on the metal door and silently waited for him to answer. It took a moment before he opened the door and she could have imagined it but she was sure he almost smiled. He stepped back, allowing her into his room without and word and closing the door behind her.

"Hi," she managed to say after using glancing around the room as an excuse to procrastinate further.

"Hi," he replied, it appeared that neither of them had been prepared to face each other again even if she'd wanted nothing more than to see him for the last six months.

"I just came to see how you were settling in," she told him and he shrugged.

"It's bigger than my cell," he replied, referring to the room and she smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean and it's definitely a plus when you can go to sleep at night not having to worry about the guards slipping a deranged serial killer into your cell in the middle of the night to murder you in whatever brutal way they can think of," she stated. The last few nights of actual restful sleep had been a welcome change.

"You too huh?" he questioned and she nodded her head again, her mind already trying to figure out what the hell she should say next. "So do you want to tell me what's going on, it doesn't look like anyone else is going to."

She looked around the room spotting the chair in the corner and opting to sit there rather than on the bed. "What do you know?" she asked and he sat down on the bed.

"Only that the cloud wasn't destroyed, it was split into..." he trailed off as he tried to remember the name.

"Shadow Warriors," she supplied for him. "I don't know that much myself, they only picked me up from the prison a few days ago but what I've got so far is that the Cloud split into these creatures. They're very powerful and like the Cloud they can only be defeated by me and Elizabeth combined. We share a mental connection with them but it's not as strong as it was with the Cloud, we can't control them and I don't think they can control us."

"How are you supposed to destroy them?" Ronon questioned and Teyla shook her head.

"We don't know, I heard someone mention something about Elizabeth fighting one of them off with a light that came from her hands but I don't think it helped that much. The day before I was released Elizabeth confronted one of them just outside of the women's prison, she was rushed into the infirmary there where she flat lined," Teyla explained realising only then just how little she knew about what she was getting herself and Ronon into.

Ronon nodded slowly, a look on his face he always had when he was digesting new and important information. "What I don't understand is why they want me here, I understand why they brought you but what do I have to do with it?"

Teyla froze, her mind trying to come up with a believable answer and failing. "I don't know," she opted to say. "They're not really being very forthcoming with me."

Ronon smiled "So how many dirty looks should I expect to get?"

"I don't know, I've been mostly staying in my room but I'm guessing a lot, they don't seem to want us here very much," she replied "But after six months in a maximum security alliance prison with guards and inmates hating you more than they hate each other, you should already be used to it."

* * *

Hyper space helped her to think, helped her to put some order to the chaotic thoughts in her head. Ever since their first mission on this ship, when they'd been hunting down the cloud she had grown accustomed to finding somewhere quiet – whether that be her quarters, the bridge or some quiet, unused corner of the ship – and just staring out at hyperspace, the glowing colours mixing together as the ship passed through them.

She'd known having Teyla aboard the ship was going to be strange but she hadn't really expected to feel quite so unsettled by it. She'd barely even seen Teyla, she'd been staying in her room keeping out of the way of the rest of the crew, the last time Elizabeth had seen her was when they'd picked Ronon up yesterday. She was going to have to get used to this though, they were both tracking down and destroying the Shadow Warriors and it wasn't going to be a quick and easy task. They'd only had to work together for a few minutes when they'd taken out the Cloud, this could take months though.

"Why is it that I keep finding you either here or in that alcove at the end of the quarter's corridor?" John's voice questioned from behind her and Elizabeth smiled slightly. She pushed her foot against the sensors console, using it to turn the chair around so she could see John keeping her other leg pulled up against her chest.

"They're good places to think," she replied and John didn't say anything, he just sat down in the pilot's chair looking out of the window she'd spent the last hour or so staring out of. She didn't return her gaze to it, instead she watched John, she clearly wasn't the only person aboard the ship that had a lot on her mind. She was fairly sure that with all the potential drama on this ship they could actually start one of those old fashioned soap operas.

"I'm not getting any great epiphanies here," John commented and Elizabeth smiled again.

"You don't necessarily get any answers but even if you do they take time to come," she told him knowing he wouldn't have the patience to sit here for hours on end sorting his thoughts out. If he couldn't sort them quickly he preferred to ignore them and even with her he tended to keep a lot of his thoughts to himself. "How about this, I'll tell you what's on my mind and in exchange you tell me what's on yours, it'll be like a business deal but I'm not going to fess up if you don't."

John chuckled to himself and turned his chair to face her properly. "Fine, spill."

"Having Teyla here is taking some getting used to," she admitted "I wasn't expecting to be so uncomfortable with having here; I thought that maybe it would be awkward at first but we'd get used to it, at the moment I don't even have it in me to face her."

"Well nothing about this prophesy has been easy," John told her and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement, whatever power out there had decided that this was how her life should be played out had to get some sick kind of pleasure from watching people struggle and suffer.

"I know, it's just that this whole thing is bringing up some issues I'd rather not deal with," she stated and then shrugged. "Okay your turn."

"I worry about you," he told her after a moment and Elizabeth cocked her head to the side as he looked back at the window. John had never been good at expressing his feelings; sometimes even with her it was difficult. "There's so many things that could go wrong, so many ways I could lose you in this and I'm not sure how to deal with that."

Elizabeth smiled knowing how awkward he felt now "You're cute when you're worried."

"I'm baring my soul to you here Elizabeth and you mock me?" John questioned with a raised eyebrow and Elizabeth smiled.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," she told him standing up and walking toward him dropping a kiss on his cheek. "I worry about you too."

"Sorry to interrupt guys," Marcus said as he walked onto the bridge, one hand over his eyes and the other feeling the wall to help guide him. "I hope there's nothing going on in here cos we all have to work here you know."

"Marcus take your hand off your face," John said in a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Is it safe?" he questioned.

"No we're both naked but hey we all live together, these things will happen," John joked and Elizabeth tried and failed not to laugh.

"Nobody's naked Marcus, you can take your hand down," Elizabeth told him and Marcus peaked through his fingers as though he'd actually thought they might be naked before he dropped his hand completely.

"Well, you're both adults and you can never be too careful," Marcus quipped before getting to the point. "Carson and Rodney want to see everyone in the eating area; Laura's getting Dex and Teyla now."

Elizabeth followed John and Marcus into the eating area where Laura, Teyla and Ronon were already waiting. Ronon and Teyla were sat together at the table and Laura was standing by the door as though she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the former Vernai as possible. She smiled to them as they entered and moved to sit on the kitchen counter next to where Marcus stood. Rodney and Carson arrived a moment later, both of them carrying data pads and serious expressions as Rodney took a seat at the table at the same time John and Elizabeth did.

"We've got the results from the tests we've been running," Carson began "We know how the Shadows kill."

"During our first encounter both Elizabeth and John were injured, we ran tests on both of you. Elizabeth we found traces of two chemicals in your system, the first one we've seen before in victims of the cloud, the second one is completely knew to us but we have determined that it's lethal to humans," Rodney explained everyone listening intently.

"What about Vernai?" Laura questioned glancing at Ronon despite the fact that the man was human.

"Without blood and tissue samples from a Vernai there's no way to be sure," Carson replied.

"However these chemicals weren't present in John nor were they in Elizabeth after the second attack. What we did find was abnormal energy levels and if you remember I recorded some data at the second encounter. There was a flash of light from the Shadow which was obviously what took out Elizabeth; it was actually a burst of energy. This was on a level that could potentially be lethal to a human being hence the cardiac arrest," Rodney continued to explain. Elizabeth felt John's hand on her knee and she moved her own hand to hold it.

"So they're killing in two different ways, chemical and energy," Marcus stated for confirmation and both Carson and Rodney nodded.

"Now this is the really helpful bit," Rodney went on "During the second encounter my scanner picked up small amounts of radiation coming from the shadow, it's harmless but it may provide us with a way to find them easier."

"We could actually have a way to track these things?" John questioned

"Not over long distances and it wouldn't be a particularly reliable or easy way to track them but when we're actually searching on a planet we can use a hand held scanner and once were close enough we'd be able to find them," Rodney explained.

"So what you're saying is in order to be able to use the scanners to find them we first have to... find them?" Marcus asked incredulously and Rodney stared at him for a moment before cocking his head to the side and conceding Marcus's point.

"Yeah kinda, it doesn't give us much but it's better than we had before," Rodney defended and Elizabeth smiled.

"Every little bit helps," she said and then stood up. "Carson how about we make dinner?"

* * *

Tarion had probably been a prime target for the Shadow, it had one of the highest populations of all Alliance planets, tens of thousands of humans all going about their business. So far there had been three reported attacks here and five fatalities, the Shadow that had come here seemed to be perfectly happy, it didn't look like it was moving on. Marcus had been left with the job of escorting Rodney to each of the attack sites so he could take readings and do whatever else it is he did.

As boring as this job was Marcus definitely preferred babysitting duty to John Elizabeth's job, going around to interview witnesses, forcing them to relive the horrors they'd seen. As if that wasn't bad enough they had Dex and Teyla with them, no one had felt comfortable leaving them alone on the ship and they were neither experienced nor trusted enough to be allowed to work alone.

Looking down the dark alleyway Marcus could already make out the two white markings on the floor, white tape that had been stuck down in the shape of two bodies, marking where the victims had died here. This was the second scene they'd visited like this; the first one had also had two victims but it had been in a house, a home. A mother and daughter getting ready to sit down and have dinner along with the witness John and Elizabeth would have to talk to, the father. Carson would be examining the bodies right about now, Laura had taken him to the morgue so he could run his usually battery of tests.

"It's freezing here," Rodney said, he'd been complaining the entire time since they'd left the local police station that morning. If he wasn't complaining about the cold then he was complaining about being tired or the fact that he hadn't eaten in five hours.

"Let's just get this over with so we can go to the final scene," Marcus replied as he glanced down at the white markings on the floor. He'd never say it out loud, in fact he deny it to his dying breath but visiting these scenes creeped him out, it was almost like he could feel the death here.

"Alright, let's see what we have here," Rodney stated as he pulled his scanner from his bag. There were a few beeps as Rodney pressed various buttons, muttering to himself as he moved around the alleyway. "I'm picking up faint radiation readings where the bodies were found, not as high as I detected from the Shadows themselves though."

Rodney put the scanner away taking out other equipment to take samples of various materials in the crime scene. Marcus stood there, his gun strapped to his thigh keeping watch over Rodney and their surroundings. A few people passed by the entrance to the alley casting curious gazes in their direction, some of them looking scared and others looking angry. There were a lot of people that were mad at the Alliance, Marcus didn't even think they knew why they were mad, they just needed someone to blame and the Alliance made as good a target as any.

* * *

Carson packed the blood samples from the first body into the silver briefcase securing them so they could be transported to the ship safely. He took the other small glass containers with various other samples in them, tissues, saliva, hair and various other parts of the body that would hopefully help Carson to understand the Shadow Warriors more. He secured them into position so they could be transported to the ship safely. He closed the case, locking it with the combination lock that only he knew the code to and running his hand over the label where the victims name was printed, Maria Tallon.

Carson put the box on the table to the side and turned back to the body pulling the light blue sheet back over the woman's face before sliding the drawer back into place. He picked up the file for the next victim, Sally Tallon, and read through the information sucking in a sharp breath as he did so.

"What's wrong?" Laura questioned from where she'd been standing by the door, keeping out of the way and letting him do his work.

"She was seven," Carson replied, he hadn't been told that, he knew one of the victims had been young but he hadn't prepared for just how young. He put the file down and mentally prepared himself as Laura walked across the room to join him. At that moment he was more than grateful for her presence, of all the things he'd had to do since getting caught up in the Electus prophesy this was going to be by far the worst. He'd dealt with the young victims of the cloud before but that had been different, the victims of the cloud hadn't been recognisable after.

He opened the morgue drawer wincing inwardly at the small form beneath the sheet and took a deep breath before he pulled it back. Sally had looked just like her mother, the body he'd just put away, she had the same blonde hair except the little girl's had gone all the way down to her waist. Her facial features were the same too, soft and delicate and too small to be on the table in front of him. He forced himself to focus, he had a job to do and maybe he could find a way to prevent more children from falling victim to the Shadow Warriors.

"How could the Council have let it get this far, keeping the rest of the prophesy from us and then not releasing Teyla right from the start," Laura said. The sight of the little girl was affecting her deeply but of course, Laura being Laura, she expressed it as anger.

"Laura love, can you hand me those vials?" Carson asked her his mind already coming up with a list of things she could do to help. The best thing he could do for her was give her something to do, keep her busy and her mind off what she was seeing. They still had three more bodies to examine after this one and they were both going to need to be clear headed; they couldn't afford to miss anything.

* * *

The man was probably in his late thirties, dark hair and blue eyes that created an attractive contrast but held a haunted look. The apartment belonged to a friend; his own home was surrounded by yellow police tape informing all who passed by that the house was now a crime scene. He'd been allowed to bring some of his belongings with him, anything that had been upstairs away from where the attack had taken place. He'd surrounded himself with pictures, photographs of a family Teyla knew to be dead now.

His wife had been younger than him, not by much but enough that it showed in their faces or perhaps recent events had just aged the man sitting in front of her, hiding in the guest room of a friend's apartment unable to move on. The little girl in the pictures was beautiful, long blonde hair and the same blue eyes her father had. She was grinning at the camera, reaching out to it as though she'd planned to take it from whoever had been holding it. She'd been full of life and should have had a whole lot of it in front of her, a whole lot of time to burn the energy that radiated from her.

"I understand that this is hard, I can't imagine what you must be going through but anything you can tell us could be helpful, it could help us to stop this happening to anyone else," Elizabeth told him patiently, so far the man hadn't said much of anything; his friend had answered the door and brought the group up here. He was standing by the door now, keeping out of the way but obviously prepared to jump in if he felt this was too much for his friend.

"I should have got their sooner, if I'd come straight home instead of stopping for a drink with the guys..." he trailed off, his hands over his nose and mouth as a silent tear fell down the man's face, probably one of many he'd shed in the last couple of days.

"You couldn't have known," John tried to reassure the man, he and Elizabeth had the same looks on their faces, clearly affected by what they were hearing, what they were seeing but reining it in. Their voices were patient, sympathetic but at the same time they were firm, prepared to stay here until they got their answers. It was obvious they'd had to do this before and Teyla had to wonder how many victims were out there, how many people had seen the horror of the Shadows killing, how many people had lost someone they loved.

"The council did, didn't they?" the man questioned looking up at John and Elizabeth, anger coming through his tears. "They knew about these monsters and didn't do anything to stop them, they didn't even warn us."

Teyla felt a wave of guilt then, she'd known about the Shadows and she hadn't done anything to stop them either. Instead she'd sat in her cell, refusing to help until she and Ronon were released, if she'd agreed to help Elizabeth stop these things from the beginning, this man's wife and daughter could very well still be alive. She knew she'd never change what she did, she and Ronon were free now and that had been all she wanted but it didn't stop her from feeling just a little bit of guilt.

"The Alliance has done everything it can," Elizabeth stated convincingly though Teyla was sure she didn't really believe those words. They should have given Teyla what she wanted from the start instead of stubbornly trying to get something for nothing.

"Is it true what they're saying?" the man questioned "That this is all part of the Electus prophesy, that the Electus have the power to stop these things."

"Where did you hear that?" John asked, his tone changing slightly from sympathetic to concerned. Teyla was somewhat thankful that the majority of people didn't know who the Electus were, that she and Elizabeth could walk down a street and go unrecognised.

"It's true isn't it, then where are they, why aren't they doing what they're supposed to, why are they letting innocent people die?" the man fired several questions out in his anger and Teyla looked at Elizabeth. The Agent didn't even flinch, didn't look at all fazed by the man's words. Teyla shifted her gaze to Ronon who was sitting next to her on the couch in the corner, both of them trying to keep out of the way for now. He gave her a small smile, she couldn't find it in herself to return it instead she turned her attention back to the witness.

"Mr Tallon, I'm sure the Electus are doing what they can but you can help by telling us what you saw," John explained and the man bit his lip having some internal battle with himself.

"I'll tell you what I saw, I walked into my house and I heard my wife scream so I ran into the lounge just in time to see her body hit the floor a few feat from my daughters. Some... dark... creature retreating out of the back door, my wife liked to leave it open a little to let some air in," he said angrily, his voice calming toward the end and it was fairly obvious the man wasn't going to be any more help than that.

"Thank you for your time," John said as he and Elizabeth stood up, Ronon and Teyla following suit. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

The man's friend led them out of the apartment, Ronon and Teyla a few steps behind John and Elizabeth as the four of them made their way through the crowd. Teyla was somewhat thankful that he had been the last witness they'd need to see at least for now. The others had been a little more helpful, they'd seen more, been in ore of a state to talk about it.

"How the hell did he find out?" Elizabeth questioned referring to the information about the Electus prophesy.

"I don't know, a leak maybe, if that's the case we need to get it plugged," John replied "Not that it'll make much difference, the more these things attack, the more law enforcement agencies we have to bring in on this the more people are going to find out. Then we'll have a lot of angry people to deal with."

"Yeah, and guess who they'll be angry at."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note: I'm so sorry for the horrible wait, I've never gone this long without updating, please forgive me. **

**Jammeke – **There'll be a lot more of Teyla and Elizabeth working together in the chapters to come. I'm glad you liked the scene with Lorne walking onto the bridge, that was actually my favourite to write, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **I'm glad you liked Ronon's scene, it was a lot of fun to write. I usually struggle a little with Ronon but he came so easily to me in that scene and of course Ronon would agree once he knew Teyla was involved. I love writing sparky; it's good to know it comes across the way I want it to. I actually debated for a while whether to add the little girl in, I didn't want to upset anyone but I figured that would make it more real, more emotional. Thanks for the review.

**Jessy Luke -** Thanks for the review, I got a little carried away writing the last chapter so it ended up a little longer than usual. Ronon and Teyla will feature quite heavily in the next few chapters, I hope you enjoy this one.

**Belanna30 – **I was quite pleased with how the last chapter turned out and I'm glad you liked it too. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you liked Ronon and Teyla's reunion, they don't strike me as the type to just come clean about their feelings, especially after all this time. Elizabeth and John really are sweet and of course Lorne is just sexy. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the reviews.

**Kuro – **I'm glad you liked the sparky scene, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 10

Raised voices floated through the ship drawing John and Elizabeth toward the cafeteria. After a long day the two of them had opted for an early night – at least early by the usual standard. They'd barely been in bed ten minutes when Rodney had knocked loudly on the door telling them to get out of bed and prevent the murders that were more than likely about to happen. Having got out of bed they'd pulled on their boots and Elizabeth had grabbed her robe. They entered the cafeteria to find what could potentially turn into a small war. Laura and Marcus were arguing with Ronon and Teyla, an argument that looked like it was minutes away from turning physical. Rodney was standing by the door probably prepared to bolt at the first sign of real danger. Carson was nearby, the look on his face a mixture of worry, anger and exasperation most likely from failed attempts to intervene.

"Oh yeah, sure, because that justifies killing millions of innocent people," Laura stated sarcastically, a look of anger that Elizabeth couldn't ever remember seeing on the woman.

"The Alliance is scum, you're not all the good people you like to pretend you are," Ronon replied venomously.

"And you're basing that one what?" Marcus questioned his own anger as obvious as Laura's. "You're in depth knowledge of our personalities?"

"I was on the receiving end of the Alliance's lack of care for life," Ronon answered.

"As was I," Teyla added. "When it comes right down to it the Alliance are just as bad as the Vernai and so are its Agents."

"Now you just..." Laura began stepping forward to start causing some damage, comparing her to a Vernai was never going to go down well. Marcus grabbed her around the waist to prevent her doing something stupid, holding onto her despite her struggles.

"And I suppose you think Mr Macho here is the good guy, I can promise you he's not and after everything you did, neither are you," Marcus stated as Laura continued trying to get free. The argument seemed to reach a peak then and John quickly stepped in before anyone could get hurt.

"That's enough," he shouted gaining everyone's attention, all of them seeming to only just realise they were in the room. It was silent for several moments, Laura and Marcus at least had the good grace to look a little guilty for forcing their friends out of bed. "Now what the hell is going on?"

Nobody answered, the whole thing had probably started over something ridiculous, like Ronon and Teyla daring to leave their rooms and show their faces.

"Look everybody here has history," Elizabeth said stepping forward. "But we've all got to work together, probably for a while. There are innocent lives on the line and I'm not going to have them jeopardised because you guys can't get along. When this is over you can all squabble to your heart's content, until then you're just going have to learn to play nice."

"Now, it's getting late and we're going back to bed, I suggest the rest of you do the same," John stated and then turned around leaving the room. Elizabeth looked at the others a moment longer trying to judge if the war was going to continue once she and John were gone. It appeared that they were all prepared to drop it, at least for tonight and without another word she followed John.

"Well, I suppose we knew this wasn't going to be easy," she said as she caught up with him. "This was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Would've been nice if they'd picked a time when we weren't trying to sleep to blow up at each other," he replied and she shrugged.

"I doubt that'll be the last time," she stated.

"John nodded his head "But hopefully it'll be the worst."

* * *

The charts were beginning to turn into blurs, he'd been examining them since that morning and after several hours he still hadn't learnt that much. Too many people had been killed by the Shadow Warriors already, their medical files weren't telling him much but if he could learn anything at all then maybe it could help them understand these creatures, help to tell Elizabeth what she was fighting against. He put down the toxicology report from one of the more recent victims, the mother who had been killed along with her daughter. Leaning back in his chair he rubbed his eyes, keeping them closed as he sighed and allowed himself a moment to relax.

Two arms slipped around his neck from behind and he smiled at the feel of familiar lips on his cheek. "You're working too hard," Laura said quietly. "You've gone straight through lunch, everyone's wandering why there's no food on the table."

"Here's an idea," Carson replied humorously knowing full well that everyone would have eaten. "Make your own."

"I thought we decided that me cooking was a bad idea," she stated half seriously and Carson's smile widened as he opened his eyes and turned his chair around so he could face his wife.

"Sandwiches don't require cooking," he told her and she shrugged as she sat herself in his lap.

"Lunch is over rated anyway," she said.

"Laura Beckett," he admonished trying hard not to smile when she did. Even after being married for all these months she still wasn't used to the name change especially since when she was working she was still Cadman.

"I was kidding," she replied and he narrowed his eyes at her. He'd lost track of the number of times he'd had to scold her for thinking it was okay to miss meals so that she could fit in extra training. Instead of defending herself like she usually did Laura kissed him and he forgot he was supposed to be working on the medical files. He was so lost in her that he didn't hear someone walk into the room.

"Oh come on, that's disgusting," Rodney exclaimed walking into the small medical lab with a file in hand. Laura sighed as she broke the kiss and stood up glaring at Rodney.

"Anyone ever tell you that you have lousy timing McKay?" Laura questioned bitterly.

"Anyone ever tell you to make out in private," Rodney threw back screwing up his face at the thought of it. "I don't even know what he sees in you in the first place."

"I think I'll cut in there before this gets out of hand," Carson said quickly trying to prevent yet another argument from breaking out on the ship.

"The medical history you requested from victim number five arrived, I thought I'd be nice and bring it here," Rodney stated, pointedly throwing a scowl in Laura's direction.

"Thanks, hopefully this will explain the increased levels of chemicals in his system," Carson stated gratefully, focusing once again on his work.

Laura kissed his cheek again. "Just remember to eat," she ordered as she and Rodney left the room the two of them bickering once again.

* * *

After spending so long in a small cell with nothing but a bed – which wasn't particularly comfortable – and a toilet in it, her room on the ship ought to seem like a paradise. It wasn't huge but it was at least twice the size of her cell. The toilet was in another room, separate and private along with her own shower. Still, she couldn't help but remember Ronon's ship and when compared with that, this smuggler's ship paled. On the plus side she'd be going shopping today, she was by no mean a shopping lover but it would be good to do something normal for a change. Of course she wasn't going with Ronon; they were being taken separately to get some much needed things. Despite being free people now the crew of the Venture were keeping a tight leash on them.

There was a knock on the door and she didn't bother going to open it, if it was anyone but Ronon they would have shouted what they wanted through the door and then gone again. Instead she called for them to come in; the door opened and just as she'd expected Ronon walked in.

"Hey," he greeted. "You ready to go?"

"Yes," she replied "I'm just waiting for Elizabeth and Agent Cadman."

The realisation that Elizabeth would be with her on such a normal task felt weird, especially when she remembered all the times the two of them had gone shopping together back on Corlain. This time though, Elizabeth wasn't going with her as a friend, a sister, but as her escort.

"Lorne and Sheppard are taking their time too," Ronon commented as he sat down on the bed near her. She didn't fail to notice the distance he still kept. It occurred to her only then that she had yet to touch him since their release. With everything that had happened between them before they had left the Vernai there now seemed to be some physical barrier in place, one neither of them was prepared to cross.

"You going to be alright today?" he asked her "I know you have... issues with Elizabeth."

That was an understatement "I'll be fine, it'll be weird but I'll be fine, she's my escort not my friend."

"Still it's bound to bring up some memories," he pressed, concern in his tone he only really showed to her and not very often.

"Memories from a different person of different people," she stated firmly. "I'm not that person anymore and neither is she, whatever we were, whatever we had, it's gone now."

"Are you trying to tell me you don't fell anything for her? If that's the case then you're lying," Ronon said as firmly as she had and she wondered when he had gotten to know her so well, every part of her.

"Anger," she stated in response. "That's what I feel for her, lots of anger. She left me to the Vernai and if it hadn't been for you then I'd probably be dead or broken while she was living her cushy little life here."

"She might not have had Kolya and the Admiral to deal with but she's still an Electus, I doubt things have been that cushy for her," Ronon defended Elizabeth which took Teyla by surprise; he hated the Alliance more than she did but here he was defending one of them. "Don't get me wrong, she's Alliance, I hate Alliance but I'm just saying things can't have been that easy for her. Not only is she an Electus but she's had to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, we were there for the killings but she had to deal with the bodies, the survivors, the witnesses, everything that the Cloud and the Shadows left behind. We were always gone by then, we never cared enough to stick around, in fact half of the time we were the cause."

"I guess," Teyla conceded though she still wasn't going to let go of her anger. It didn't matter what Elizabeth had been through since; she had still abandoned her. "She just seems so happy, so comfortable with her life here. She has friends; she has Agent Sheppard even if they're not saying it out loud."

"Well," Ronon began, a humorous smile appearing. "I suppose you've got me."

That was more of a comfort than she was willing to admit to. "Oh, lucky me," she replied sarcastically, returning his smile with one of her own. He held her gaze a moment longer and she was so tempted to close that distance between them, to get rid of the wall they'd built up and try to find what they'd lost when they'd turned themselves in. She wasn't sure what it was, what it had been but she could feel the war waging within her as to whether she wanted to find out. There was a knock at the door and it broke the moment, she didn't know if she was grateful for that or not and Ronon was as hard to read as always, if he was disappointed she couldn't tell. The openness that had been there just seconds ago had been carefully covered up again and she had no idea what he was thinking.

"Teyla, we're leaving," Elizabeth's voice called through the door, it lacked the edge that everyone else's had when they spoke to her but there was no familiarity or warmth in it. She didn't bother to answer; she knew Elizabeth would already be gone, probably heading to the cargo bay to wait for her.

"She's so different, I can't even wrap my head around how much she's changed," she stated quietly, her eyes on the door and she felt Ronon's hand on her shoulder.

"She probably thinks the same about you."

* * *

Carson was just heading to the infirmary when he heard the beeping coming from the bridge, recognising it as the comm. he made his way there quickly hoping it hadn't been beeping for long. He dropped himself into the chair at the sensor's console, hitting the button to listen to the message that had been left for them. The voice of one of the officers they'd been working with since they got here informed him of another attack, one that had taken place fifteen minutes ago if the ship's computer was correct.

He headed down to the cargo bay where Laura and Marcus were sorting through some of their supplies having returned with Dex twenty minutes ago. The two of them had done very little bickering since this had started and even less since Dex and Teyla had been brought on board, even now they were both chatting amicably.

"There's been another attack," he stated and they both turned to look at him.

"Where?" John's voice came and Carson turned to the ship's ramp in surprise. He and Elizabeth were just returning with Teyla in tow, a few bags being carried between them.

"Alton grove, about fifteen minutes ago," Carson told him and John turned to Laura.

"Get Rodney, Lorne, go and get Dex," he ordered and the two agents nodded their heads and left immediately to get the two missing crew members.

"Since none of us know where Alton grove is I'll go and get the co-ordinates from the ship's computer," Elizabeth said, putting her bags down by one of the crates and heading through to the bridge.

"I suppose I'd better get my things together," Carson said and he too left the cargo bay all but running toward the medical lab where he'd left his case. He passed Laura and Rodney on the way, the scientist was complaining about being dragged away from his work at the most inconvenient of times until Laura threatened to shove a lemon down his throat.

He loved his wife.

Fortunately he always kept his case packed, all the things he'd need were already inside it so he just had to grab it from the counter. When he made it back to the cargo bay everyone else was already there waiting for him. Rodney was stood in the corner very quietly checking his equipment while Ronon and Teyla stood in the other corner keeping out of the way.

"Alright, if everyone's ready let's get going," John said walking down the ramp with Elizabeth at his side. The group split between the two cars they'd been given to help get them around the city whilst they were here. Dex and Teyla went with John and Elizabeth without anyone saying a word; it had become all too apparent that Laura and Marcus couldn't quite keep their dislike of the former Vernai to themselves.

The trip took far longer than Carson would have liked and Rodney put his fear of Laura aside to complain about it. At least up until the point where Marcus threatened to shoot him and Laura offered to back him up when he claimed the scientist accidentally shot himself. Rodney was quiet for the rest of the trip, sticking to mumbling under his breath rather than risk infuriating the already tense Laura and Marcus anymore than he had done.

What they found when they arrived was chaos, the attack had been in the middle of the street in a very residential area. It was filled with the kind of homes some people dreamed of having, beautiful houses, huge gardens and white picket fences. There were dozens of people running around outside of the police tape that had been used to cordon off the area around the body. A large tent had been put up in the middle of it all, no doubt to hide the body from public view though it probably hadn't needed to be so big. Police officers were trying to maintain some semblance of order, keeping people on the right side of the tape and answering questions as best they could without giving any information away. It didn't matter really, people knew the Shadow was here, they knew it had killed several people already and if they had an ounce of intelligence then they would know it had killed here.

They made their way through the crowd, ignoring the annoyed shouts of people who thought they were just spectators trying to get a better view. John flashed his ID and they were allowed under the table, the officer pointed toward the tent, the look on his face made it obvious he'd seen the body and Carson wondered exactly what it was he was going to see.

An officer by the tent pulled back the flap of the white tent and allowed them inside; thankfully there was more than enough room for the entire group to fit in though part of Carson wished he hadn't, a least he understood why the tent had been so big.

"Oh God," Rodney whispered, any complaints he may have had to make were no doubt gone from his mind. Yet another officer approached them, a small pad of paper in his hand and a grim look on his face, this had to have been the worst the shadows had done so far.

"Four victims, male, all age 12, they were playing football in the street when that thing attacked them," the officer reported, an undertone of anger in every word.

"Were there any witnesses?" Elizabeth questioned, her eyes still on the four small forms that were covered over.

"Yeah, a few including two of the parents," the officer replied handing her a piece of paper with the witnesses details on.

"Alright," John said nodding his thanks to the officer and drawing everyone's attention to him. "Elizabeth and I will handle the witnesses. Rodney do your thing, Marcus stay with him. Laura you stay with Carson while he examines the bodies. Teyla, Dex, come with us," John gave out orders quickly, giving everyone something to focus on and leaving the tent.

* * *

John was fairly sure that this one of the worst moments of his career. He'd seen so much death, he'd seen plenty of children killed by the shadow but this just seemed worse to him. Maybe because it had only been children, they weren't part of a bigger attack, it had just been them. He needed to keep everyone focused; this was the kind of thing that could get into your head, that would eat away at you until it broke you. He had every faith in his team, they could handle this but they needed to be given something to do, something to occupy their minds so they didn't dwell too much.

He spared a glance at Elizabeth as they left the tent, she seemed to be okay, a little shook up but he'd be more worried if she wasn't. Dex and Teyla were right behind them, he didn't bother to look back, they were either bothered or they weren't and he couldn't bring himself to care which right now. He asked one of the officers where the witnesses were and they were pointed to a nearby house that was being guarded by yet more officers.

Flashing his ID they were allowed inside and directed to the lounge where several people were sat, some with their arms around each other, some just staring at the walls in a daze. The parents, the mothers and father's of the boys who'd been killed in the street as they played, there were a couple of kids around, most of them too young to fully understand what was happening.

"I'm sorry to intrude, I'm Agent Sheppard, this Agent Weir of the Alliance," John introduced them as carefully as he could, it wouldn't take much to set someone off. "We're extremely for your loss but if we could speak to Jane Alson and Maria Kyton."

"I'm Jane, this is Maria," one of the women said gesturing to herself and then the woman beside her. Jane seemed to be holding it together, barely but Maria was in tears, if they were going to learn anything it would be from Jane. "We already told the officer's everything we know."

"I know and I'm sorry to make you go through it again but we're a separate investigation and we may be able to learn something the local authorities didn't," John told them, Elizabeth , Teyla and Dex stayed quiet, allowing John to be the focal point and keep everyone calm.

"I'll talk to you but leave Maria alone," Jane said quietly and John decided it was the best he was going to get. He nodded his head and gestured for Jane to leave the room ahead of him, she led them into the kitchen and then stopped for a moment, leaning against the side to try and pull herself together. "What do you want to know?"

"We just need to know exactly what happened, what you saw," John told her and she took a deep breath, holding back tears with what looked like inhuman effort.

"I saw my son die," she stated barely above a whisper. "He was playing football with his friends, he does most days, they are... were football addicts, you should see his room," she told them, wiping a tear away from her face with a sniffle. "That thing just came out of no where, it was like it just stepped out of the shadows, it looked like it _was_ a shadow. It... surrounded Tommy, my baby boy and there was this light, then it let go and Tommy was dead."

She paused then, tears flowing freely and she took several deep breaths as though trying to calm herself enough to keep speaking. "I know this is hard but anything you can remember could help," John said.

"I screamed, I knew Tommy was gone but the other three boys were still there. Maria and I ran toward them, shouted for them to run to us but the... thing... it took Damien and I didn't even see the flash of light, he just cried out and then he was dead. Joey tripped as he was running; the thing was heading right for him. Adam would have made it but he ran back for Joey, they started running but the shadow it shot some sort of light, it hit both boys and they were dead," Jane finished and then turned around to lean on the counter again.

"What happened to the shadow after that?" Elizabeth questioned softly.

It took Jane a moment to answer "It disappeared, like it camouflaged itself into the shadows again."

"There must have been a lot of people around by then?" John questioned.

"Yeah I think there was, the boys screamed, so did I, attracts a lot of attention in a neighbourhood like this," Jane told them and John nodded his head.

"You've been very helpful Miss Alson, once again we're very sorry for your loss," John said, Jane didn't respond, just left the room to return to her family.

"What are you thinking?" Elizabeth asked John as they followed her and stepped back into the lounge where the families were gathered.

"I'll tell you later," he replied as one of the children, a little girl no more than four or five years old stood up, carrying her doll with her and walking over to one of the women. It was heartbreaking to watch as the little girl asked why her mother was crying followed by the even more heart breaking question.

"Where's Adam?"

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note: As I said on the update for my other story I'm really sorry for once again making everyone wait for an update. I have a good excuse though, I was in hospital over Christmas and New Year and they've only just let me out. I'm mostly stuck in bed for now though so hopefully I should be able to get a bit of writing done. Once again I'm very sorry. **

* * *

**Jammeke – **Thank you so much for my review, reading it back just now has made me smile and I'm really glad you enjoy my stories. I was a little wary of doing the scene with the boys, I wasn't sure what people would think but I'm glad I decided to write it that way because I think it makes it more realistic, sometimes it is the children. Thanks for your review and for sticking with me.

**Sparkly – **I know that was a horrible last line, I nearly broke my own heart writing it, imagining the little girl, all innocent asking where he brother was. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter though and thanks for the review.

**Jessy Luke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I'm sorry for the wait for this one, I hope it was worth it.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and yeah, I didn't think just because they were forced to work together that things would go smoothly, there's a lot of history between them now, things that can't just be ignored. Thanks for the review and sorry about the wait again.

**Steph** – I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I know it was a sad ending but I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 11

There was no doubt about it; the investigation into the deaths of the four boys had been the worst thing John had ever had to do. Witnesses had been hurt and angry; grieving for lost loved ones, children who should never have been touched by something so horrible. John had to give his crew a lot of credit for holding it together so well on this one. The day had been spent on this investigation, Carson had managed to examine the bodies, take the necessary samples with help from Laura. Rodney and Marcus had scanned the area, taking their own samples and asking their own questions of the officers.

Elizabeth had struggled with the questioning this time; John had done most of it which had probably been just as well. It was easier to keep everyone calm if it was just him asking the questions, if too many voices came at the witnesses, too many questions, too much going on, they would have easily gotten wound up and snapped, shutting down and making an already difficult investigation that much harder. Dex and Teyla had stayed out of the way for the most part; just stood quietly in he back ground watching. John wasn't entirely sure why he always brought them along, he supposed if they were going to contribute to the efforts to stop the Shadows then they needed to observe and learn how the Alliance did things, that and he wasn't comfortable leaving them alone with his ship.

Now everyone was gathered together in the kitchen, Laura, Marcus, Rodney, Carson and Elizabeth were sitting around the table. John had sat himself on the kitchen counter and Ronon and Teyla were standing to the side as usual, there to hear what they needed to but trying to stay out of the way.

"I'm still waiting for a lot of the test results but I can tell you for certain that Tommy, Adam and Joey were killed with energy. With Tommy it was the usually method, surround them and hit them with enough energy to kill them. The other two boys had burns on their backs from some kind of impact, the energy seemed to be mostly concentrated there but there was enough of it that it spread through their bodies and killed them anyway," Carson explained, there was a lot of emotion in his voice but at the same time he seemed to be trying to detach himself from it. "The other boy, Damien, he was killed by chemicals not energy, delivered in the same way as the Shadows usually kill with energy, he was enveloped by it and the chemicals passed through his skin."

"I'm finding those same chemicals all over the scene," Rodney continued when Carson was finished. "There also seems to be a trail of it leading up to where the boys were killed, I can't be sure though, there were too many people for me to gather enough samples. Now that everything has quietened down, I'd like to go back and see how far this trail goes, it could be that the Shadows leave a trail everywhere they go."

"Alright, Laura and Marcus, take Rodney back to the site after dark, everyone should have gone home by then," John ordered, he'd heard every word that had been said, taken all of it on board but his mind was preoccupied by its own thoughts. "I think we need to be more careful as well. I think the Cloud plans its attacks before hand and if that's the case it means it's watching its victims."

"What makes you say that?" Marcus asked.

"There were dozens of people around, all of them in a panic, all of them vulnerable but the Shadow left them all alone. There were so many easy victims around it should have had a field day but it didn't, it killed the four boys and then left again. I think it knew what it wanted, planned how to get it and then disappeared again before anyone could really register what was happening. It chooses who it wants and goes after them, only them, I think the only reason it would do differently is if an outsider became a threat to it like I did when it attacked Elizabeth. It turned on me for a second but once I was no longer a problem it then focused on Elizabeth again, we know it can take out more than one person at once; it killed two of those boys today at the same time but it never does that. It attacks its intended victim and then disappears again."

"I'm immensely creeped out at the thought of that thing watching me," Laura stated with a shudder "Standing in the shadows where I can't see it, watching my every move."

"Just keep your eyes open, we're going looking for these things, there's a much higher probability that it'll see us and pick us as its next victims, especially if it starts to perceive us as a threat," John ordered receiving nods from around the table.

"You know, as much as that makes sense," Carson began hesitantly. "It also means there're more to these creatures than we thought there was. We just assumed they were mindlessly killing people but if they're actually picking out victims, planning how to get to them then there's a level of intelligence, of independent thinking that we never gave them credit for."

"Okay that's enough," Laura said abruptly. "You're all creeping me out, I'm gonna have nightmares if you keep going."

* * *

Elizabeth found John in the kitchen sitting at the table staring at the apple in his hand with a far away expression. She took the chair next to him without a word and pulled the apple from his hand putting it down on the table in front of him, bringing him out of whatever trance he'd put himself in. He looked tired, more tired that the rest of them and she knew their most recent investigation had taken its toll on him; it had take its toll on all of them. The whole crew was drained, both physically and emotionally, not just from the work but from the effort of holding it together on a case that by rights should make anyone fall apart.

"You should try to sleep," Elizabeth stated and he offered her a small smile, acknowledging the fact but not moving to do anything about it.

"So should you," he replied and she nodded her head.

"I've slept more than you, that means I get to bug you about it not the other way around," she told him."I know it's been a rough couple of days but we're no good to anyone exhausted."

"I know, you're right, I'll get some sleep soon," he said and she knew him well enough to know that he would sleep when he got so tired he passed out the second he hit the bed, from the look of him it wouldn't be long now anyway.

"I was thinking," Elizabeth began "Next time we get the chance, the crew could do with a break, just a day off so they don't have to spend every minute thinking about stuff like this."

"That's probably a good idea, it's just a case of getting the chance," he replied and she nodded her head. Chances for even just a comfortable nights sleep were few and far between, the crew were up most nights working on something and whenever things would start to slow down, something else would happen. A whole day away from the Shadows, the death and everything that came with it seemed to be asking for a lot but it was no more than they needed, no more than they'd earned.

John yawned, stretching his muscles tiredly and Elizabeth recognised it as the first sign of him being about to drop to sleep right where he was. She stood up and grabbed his hand pulling him out of the chair and it seemed he had neither the will not the strength to protest as she led him to their room. They changed in silence, as expected John was asleep within seconds of lying down and Elizabeth smiled as got into the bed next to him. Even in his sleep he put his arm around her pulling her tight against him before he settled down properly and she was able to follow him into sleep.

* * *

Another day, another attack, it seemed like they'd barely made it through the few days that had been taken up by the killing of the four boys and now they were off to the site of yet another attack. They were getting to this one quicker, it had happened not far from the ship and they'd gotten notification of it within minutes though details would have to wait for now. Rodney couldn't quite understand why the Shadow was staying here on this planet, so far the Shadows had attacked a few times and then been on their way again, this one seemed content to stay here and kill one civilian after another.

The car pulled up behind the large crowd that were already gathering, it had probably only been ten minutes, fifteen at the most. Laura, Marcus and Carson got out of the car straight away, Rodney more slowly; there was nothing he hated more about his job than examining these scenes, those left behind by the shadows, those that had been left by the cloud. The other car had stopped in front of them, John and Elizabeth were already stepping under the police tape that cordoned off the scene, Ronon and Teyla were right behind them.

The rest of the group hurried after them and Rodney cast an uneasy glance around, he'd been much more edgy since the make shift briefing the other day. The thought that the Shadows were watching them was not a pleasant one, his eyes had darted from one casted shadow to another ever since. The Shadow wouldn't be far away this time either, the attack was still fresh, even if the Shadow had made a run for it straight away it still wouldn't have gotten that far. He kept up with the others, ducking below the police tape when he reached it and entering the tent that had been put up around the body.

"Male, thirty three years old, married with two kids," one of the officers was already telling John glancing at the covered body a few feat away from him.

"Witnesses?" John questioned.

"Three, a couple that were passing by and a kid who was playing down the street saw the whole thing but once it all kicked off it drew a lot of attention, there's probably a dozen or so people that saw that thing at one point or another," the officer told him, it was the same officer who had told them who the last four victims had been and Rodney only just realised he didn't even know the man's name.

"You all know what to do," John said probably getting tired of giving the same orders over and over again. He got several nods in response and Rodney immediately got to work on the site, gathering soil and air samples to be analysed later. Every sample from every scene told him the same things but if just once there was something new, something he'd been missing before then all these samples, all the time and effort it took to analyse them all would be worth it.

There was a commotion near the opening of the tent and Rodney looked up as a man walked in, struggling and fighting his way passed the two officers. He looked more than angry, he looked like he was ready to kill but Rodney had seen enough aftermaths of these attacks by clouds and shadows to understand why the man was angry, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it and it wouldn't be the last.

"How could you let this keep happening?" he shouted once he saw John and Elizabeth, targets for him to vent his anger at, Alliance agents it seemed were good for that, it made him glad he was just a scientist, he was usually spared this. "All these people getting killed and you're doing nothing to stop it!"

"I assure you sir we're doing everything we can," John stated calmly though Rodney did notice him take a step forward placing himself in between Elizabeth and the angry new comer, an unconscious act to protect her. He was the same with Laura as well but maybe not quite to the same level, Laura noticed of course and she let him get away with it for the most part, Cadman was not a woman who needed protecting... most of the time.

"Then why are they still killing people, that thing just went right up to Clarke, killed him and left. If you were doing everything you could to stop that then it wouldn't keep getting away like that would it?" the man continued to shout at John spared a glance at the nearby officer, a question in his eyes.

"Daniel Myas, one of the witnesses," the officer answered the unspoken question and John nodded turning back to the angry witness.

"What did you see exactly?" he questioned and the man frowned for a moment, not ready to let go off his anger yet but thrown by the sudden change in the conversation.

"It came out of the shadows like it had been part of it, Clarke never stood a chance, never saw it coming until it was too late. It was all around him, I thought it was choking him and tried to get to him but there was this flash of light and it just let go. Clarke was already dead when I got to him and I had my wife call the police, the shadow disappeared back into the stadium," Myas explained angrily, he'd obviously known the victim.

"Stadium?" Elizabeth asked as she stepped forward.

"Across the street from here, the baseball stadium where the kids play, not much but the kids love it, I won't be letting mine go back there for a long time even with the big game coming up," the man told them and Rodney decided it was probably a good idea to keep the kids out of there for a while. It was then he caught onto the train of thought Elizabeth had no doubt already got a hold of and when she and John left the tent in a hurry he went after them, Ronon and Teyla right behind him.

There it was, he'd paid no attention to it on the way in since it didn't mean anything to him. It was small, only just big enough for the kids to play; there was some seating around the edges of the field, fencing around two sides and walls along the others. There were shadows cast all over it even during the daylight, a perfect place for a living shadow to hide for a while.

John turned to Elizabeth "Get the others."

"Yeah," she said with a nod and went back into the tent as John spoke to the officer.

"I want the body taking to the morgue immediately; no one touches until Carson has a chance to do his examination. Rodney requires samples from the scene, they need to be collected and sent to the ship," John ordered, clearly he was planning to have the whole crew in on the search that was about to take place. It made sense; the only people here who knew what they were up against were the crew of the Venture.

* * *

If Teyla was honest with herself than she could admit that she was just a little bit terrified. Agent Sheppard and Elizabeth seemed to be sure the Shadow was hiding here somewhere, that it had taken refuge here after the attack and now she was walking through a row of wooden benches trying to find it. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to see a shadow inside a shadow but she had a feeling if she got close enough to it she'd know it was there.

She looked behind her; Ronon was there, his eyes watching everything all at once as he too shimmied his way through the benches. McKay and Cadman were down on the field with several of the officers, Becket and Lorne were inside the small building that had been labelled changing rooms. John and Elizabeth were at the side of the field checking under the small shelter that the team would normal be sat around in when they weren't on the field. Elizabeth didn't seem to be as terrified as Teyla but the woman had already gone up against these things once, granted she hadn't come out of it very well but she at least knew what to expect.

There was a noise below her, in the shelter John and Elizabeth were in and she jumped over the bench, running toward the small chipped away wall that cut of the seating from the field. She looked down and saw Elizabeth and John backing out of the shelter, guns aimed in front of them. She ran for the gap in the wall, down the few stairs to the field, she could hear Ronon's footsteps behind her.

"It's up on the field," she heard Cadman say into her radio but she couldn't quite make out the response she got from Lorne. As John and Elizabeth continued to back away from the shelter slowly Teyla saw what they were trying to move away from, the Shadow.

It was exactly as Elizabeth had described it, a jagged shadow of a person moving through the air, not touching the ground but at the same time it seemed like it was walking as it followed the two Agents. Its eyes were nothing more than white slits in the blackness but they seemed to give off a cold, evil feel that only served to make Teyla more afraid of it. This had been there goal to find a shadow but now that they had actually done it she didn't know what she was supposed to do. The shadow stopped moving so abruptly that John and Elizabeth stopped as well, it looked at Elizabeth, studying her before it looked at Teyla, it was as though it could sense who the two women were.

There was a flash of light and then everything happened fast, the light had been aimed at Elizabeth but John pulled her to the ground and the bolt hit the field harmlessly. Laura pulled her gun and fired at the shadow which didn't even phase it, all the same it classed her as a threat and fired the same bolt of energy at her, it hit her just below the chest and the blonde agent fell to the floor unmoving.

Elizabeth was up on her feet then moving toward the shadow despite the shouted protest from John who hadn't gotten onto his feet fast enough to stop her. He made a move toward her but one of the officers grabbed his arm to keep him back. The shadow focused on Elizabeth then, her hand was held out to the shadow as though she was trying to warn it to stay back, a warning the shadow didn't understand. It moved toward her, shadowy arms enveloping her and Teyla ran forward out of instinct. There was light again, dim light but this time it was coming from Elizabeth not the shadow, Teyla grabbed her hand before the shadow could cover it and the light grew. The shadow pulled back with an ear piercing scream and seconds later it was hidden among the shadows again, gone from view.

Lorne and Carson arrived just as Elizabeth and Teyla collapsed, both women were still conscious but if Teyla had tried to get up she would have found herself back on the floor again pretty quick. She tried to take deep breaths to calm her breathing, could hear Elizabeth doing the same next to her as John dropped down by her side.

"Are you alright?" he asked her and she shook her head, a look of realisation coming across her face as her head came up, eyes scanning her surroundings frantically.

"Laura," she said and Teyla too looked up. The Agent was still on the floor, Becket and Lorne hovering over her as she continued to lay there unmoving, from where she was sitting, Teyla wasn't even sure the woman was breathing.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Steph – **I know that was you on the Sparky Army account lol. I know that was kind of a mean cliff hanger wasn't it? Lol. Thanks for the review.

**Suzotchka1 – **Thanks for the review, I'm doing a lot better now and I have some time for my fanfiction.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad it was worth the wait, I'm feeling better now so I should be able to get some writing done, thanks for the review.

**Jessy Luke – **Sorry about the evil cliff hanger, a little bit anyway lol, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I really enjoyed writing the scene between John and Elizabeth; it was nice to just write a little sparky moment into it. The relationships between the characters have been interesting to write in this story as well and I think it's only going to get more interesting. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Kuroima – **Evil cliff hanger, I know, I'm a little bit sorry for it lol. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 12

The Venture had been closer than the local hospital, with help from the police who had cleared the way it had taken them only a few minutes to make it back to the ship. Agent Lorne carried a still unconscious Cadman into the infirmary, the rest of the crew all but running in his wake. Lorne had scarcely had time to put her down on the bed before Dr Beckett had started working on her. Elizabeth and Lorne helped him attach various monitors to the unconscious Agent, machines coming alive with beeps and lights. Quiet alarms began sounding immediately, one stat after another screaming that something was wrong. Teyla and the others stayed back, Sheppard and McKay watching the scene fearfully, Ronon was mostly just trying to stay out of the way. Teyla was watching everything, she might not get along with the Agent but for some reason she didn't want her to die either.

"Her blood pressure is dropping," Elizabeth stated, her voice was full of urgency and desperation. Lorne was attaching another monitor, this one clipping to the end of her finger and adding more noise to the loud cacophony of sound that already filled the room.

"Blood oxygen is too low," he announced watching the little red numbers on the screen continue to drop. "Way too low."

Beckett was giving orders; he had Lorne administer some medication and sent Elizabeth to get more as he inserted a canular into his wife's arm. Elizabeth returned with a see through bag full of a clear liquid, medication for the IV. She didn't even have time to hand it to Beckett before an alarm louder than all the others sounded. One of the monitors showed an erratic line, her heart beating too fast before it stopped completely leaving the line flat.

Lorne had the crash cart next to Beckett before the doctor had even finished shouting for it and Elizabeth was putting an oxygen mask over Cadman's nose and mouth. She stepped back when Carson shouted 'clear'. He held the panels to Cadman's chest, electricity passing into the agent making her body jolt up from the bed. A single peak appeared on the monitor before the line fell flat again. Beckett hit her with the defibrillator again only to get the same response as before.

"Come on Laura; don't do this to me," he said pleadingly, charging the panels again and trying for a third time. The response was once again the same and Teyla could feel the desperation coming from the Venture crew. Beckett hit her with the defibrillator for a fourth time and after a tense moment the flat line returned to its regular rhythm.

Beckett put the panels back on the crash cart with a sigh of relief before he went back to working on Laura. Elizabeth and Lorne were still helping him, Elizabeth was finally able to pick the IV bag up and hand it to Beckett, he started attaching it to the IV, instructing Lorne on how to attach the monitors to Laura's head. The Agent was putting the tiny wires on her forehead exactly where Beckett had told him to, moving the wires so they were away from Cadman's face.

"Radio me, if there's any change," Sheppard instructed Rodney and then left the infirmary, disappearing through the door with a backward glance at his unconscious colleague. Cadman's condition was slowly starting to stabilise and Teyla diverted her thoughts to what had just happened.

It had been the first time she'd even seen one of the Shadow Warriors; they'd been exactly as Elizabeth had described them but she hadn't quite been able to capture in words the terror they made you feel just by looking at them. It was the first time she'd come face to face with those things and this was the result. Cadman's condition was still touch and go, it had wrapped itself around Elizabeth, enveloped her like the cloud would have done. She didn't know what that light had been, how she and Elizabeth had been able to hurt the shadow and make it leave. They were terrifying creatures; she could admit to herself that they scared her, if she could go the rest of her life without seeing another one she would. As it was she knew that not only was she going to see them many more times she was actually going to go looking for them.

* * *

"Are you sure?" John questioned. The crew had gathered in the eating area, except for Laura who was still in pretty bad shape and Carson who was looking after her. It had been a day since Laura had been injured by the Shadow, her condition hadn't really improved and the worry the rest of the crew were feeling was starting to cause some friction.

"No, of course I'm not sure, it was just a discrepancy in the sensor readings, it could be the shadow or it could just be a glitch," Rodney replied touchily and John decided to let him get away with it, he was just worried about Laura, they all were. "I also can't be certain about the direction it was going in either, if I had to guess which I'm sure you're going to make me do, then I'd have to guess that it was heading into space."

"So the shadow's left," Marcus stated.

"Like I said, I can't be sure of that," Rodney told him.

"I understand that Rodney but at a best guess we'd have to say the Shadow has left the planet," Marcus replied his temper flaring slightly.

"The question is," John began cutting off any fighting before it could even start, they had enough to deal with without that. "Do we take our chances and leave or do we stay here and risk the Shadow getting too far away?"

"Even if we leave we have no way to know which way it went, we could go in the opposite direction and not find out about it for months," Rodney explained.

"We've made this decision before and I'd make the same one now, we leave," Marcus stated.

"I agree with Marcus," Elizabeth spoke up. "If we find out the Shadow is still here then we can come back, in the meantime we have other leads to follow up."

John looked to the two people standing to the back of the room, quietly watching everything that was going on, keeping their opinions to themselves. "What do you two think?"

Teyla and Dex both looked completely stunned to have been brought into the conversation; it took them a few seconds to recover enough to respond. "You're asking our opinions?" Teyla questioned incredulously.

"Yeah, we're asking their opinions?" Marcus asked with the same incredulity.

John threw his arms up in the air, surrendering to the ridiculously impossible situations they'd all been thrown into which only seemed to get more impossible everyday. "Why not?"

"I think we should leave," Ronon stated simply, Teyla nodded her agreement with him and the two of them fell silent again.

John thought for a moment, he agreed with them, he'd known his own answer before he'd asked for theirs but they were a crew and despite him somehow becoming the leader he should at least ask their opinions before making a big decision. "Then we leave," John told them. "Marcus contact the local police, let them know we think the Shadow might have left the planet but to keep their eyes open for it in case it hasn't. Tell them we're leaving in one hour."

* * *

Elizabeth left the infirmary, Laura's condition remained unchanged and she was really starting to fear for the Agent. Carson looked exhausted, he hadn't slept since Laura had been injured except for the occasional half an hour nap when he dozed off in the chair beside his wife's bed. She headed straight for her room, ignoring John who was sat on the bed trying to read through his book, the same one he'd been trying to get through when she'd first met him. She walked through to the bathroom coming to a stop in front of the sink and splashing cold water onto her face. It didn't have quite the effect she was hoping for, it all succeeded in bringing her half out of the hole she could feel herself sinking into.

She reached for a towel and dried her face, putting it back on the rail haphazardly as she looked at the mirror. Her reflection felt almost as though it belonged to someone else, she couldn't explain it but it felt foreign to her. She was too tired.

In the mirror she saw John walk in, he leaned against the metallic wall studying her for a second before his eyes met hers through their reflections. He had that look of concern, that subtle one that he always had when he found her on the bridge or in the alcove at the end of the corridor watching hyperspace and trying to get her thoughts in order. She couldn't hold his gaze; instead she looked down at the sink, gathering herself together.

She didn't even hear him move, she didn't know he had until she felt his chest touch her back and his hands on her arms. He slid them down toward her wrists and then back up again and Elizabeth couldn't quite understand how such a simple gesture could offer so much comfort, she hadn't even realised she needed it.

"Not your fault," he whispered, his lips almost touching her ear. She closed her eyes, both to soak up this feeling and to push back the feeling she didn't want at that moment. He knew her too well, she decided, he knew what she was thinking sometimes before she did, knew what she needed even when she was clueless.

"How can it not be?" she questioned, it was rhetorical but part of her wanted an answer anyway. John didn't answer, just ran his hands up and down her arms again waiting for her to say the rest of what she needed to, damn him for knowing her. "I should have figured this out by now, Teyla's here, I'm here, the Shadow was right there and I had no idea what to do. If I had, Laura would never have been hurt."

"Elizabeth, despite what some people might think you're only human and to be honest, still fairly new to all of this. Less than a year ago you were still living on Corlain completely oblivious to the prophesy, you barely knew about the war with the Vernai. You might be the Electus but that doesn't mean you have all the answers," John told her. When she had first met him she would never have pegged him for a wordy guy but he was a smart men, smarter than he let people think. "Laura would never blame you for what happened and when she wakes up she'll tell you the same thing herself. If the roles were reversed, if Laura was the Electus instead of you and you were injured by the Shadows, would you blame her?"

"No," Elizabeth replied after a moment. She sighed and turned around in his arms putting her own hands on his chest.

"You know me a little too well," she told him and then smiled "I hate you."

"I hate you too, nothing but trouble," he replied with a grin. Despite that being exactly what she feared, that she was nothing but trouble to the people she cared about the way he said it didn't hurt her the way she would have expected it to, even as a joke. He leaned forward and kissed her, slowly moving his hands from her arms to her waist, she wrapped her own around his neck. Just once it would be nice if they could be a normal couple, they' never even been on a date but she knew that at least for now, this was how their relationship had to be, behind closed doors.

He backed her up against the sink, bringing his body flush against hers and his hand to the back of her head. He ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her in more deeply. God, she shouldn't love this man so much when she'd known him for such a short amount of time. Then again, it wasn't so short when she really thought about it, less than a year maybe but not by much.

"Stop thinking," John mumbled against her lips, the words sounding a little too much like an order, one she wasn't inclined to disobey though.

* * *

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

Rodney could hear the noise from half way down the corridor, the sound of skin hitting leather over and over again. He followed it into cargo bay three, they didn't use this room for storage so it had somehow become a make shift gym of sorts, Laura, Marcus and John used it a lot when they needed to wind down or just take their frustrations out on something before they got released on a friend. He peeked his head through the doorway, curious as to who was in there at this Godforsaken hour of the night.

The gym was huge, it was supposed to be a cargo bay after all, all of the equipment was to the side of the room, there wasn't much of it, just enough to make the room useful. The rest of the room was empty, a wide open space that was wasted. It was Marcus, standing there in his sweat pants and boots, beating the crap out of the poor punch bag. It would probably have been wise to turn around and leave, let the Agent vent for a while but instead he stepped further into the room.

"What do you want McKay?" Marcus asked without stopping his relentless torture of the punch bag.

Rodney didn't actually have an answer; instead he just moved to stand beside Lorne, keeping himself at a safe distance. The Agent was obviously angry, worried, given the situation Rodney couldn't blame him, admittedly he was worried too. "She'll be fine," he stated feeling his own uncertainty rise. "Right?"

Marcus hit the bag noticeably harder. "She's tough, if anyone could come out of this it'd be her."

Rodney decided not to ask if anyone could come out of this, Laura's condition hadn't changed since Carson had managed to stabilise her. She was still unconscious, Carson was sat beside her bed, he'd barely moved from there. The whole ship was feeling the effects of Laura's condition, minus their two Vernai passengers of course; he doubted they could care less if they tried.

"Why are you up this late anyway?" Marcus asked, his fist connected with the punch bag again followed very quickly by the other one, Rodney had to wonder how he wasn't leaving a dent in the thing.

"I was running some tests on the samples from... the stadium, I wanted to get them finished before I went to sleep," he explained, in truth he had tried to go to bed hours ago but like the night before he'd spent over an hour staring at the ceiling before he'd given up and gotten back out of bed again. It was inevitable really that he would end up in his lab, just like Marcus had ended up here, just like Laura would have ended up here.

"Find anything?" Marcus questioned not slowing his assault on the inanimate object even for a second. He hit it hard, right where the ribs would be if it was a person and the Agent glared at it as he moved, hitting it again, hard enough to crack bones.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," Rodney replied feeling the frustration of not being able to find answers. Usually there was something, regardless of how small he could do to help, something he could learn that would lend a hand to whoever was working on whatever. Even with the cloud he had been able to learn enough to be useful but the Shadow Warriors seemed determined to remain a mystery.

Marcus finally stopped, grabbing the punch bag with both of his hands and leaning his head against it as he caught his breath. Rodney could see the mess he'd made of hands, violent red marks that were probably going to turn into bruises. He should have worn gloves but Rodney had the distinct feeling that pointing that out would be a bad idea so he kept it to himself. Marcus released the punch bag and walked to the bench at the side of the room, picking up his towel and drying the sweat from his face. He hung the towel over his shoulder and took a drink of his water, releasing some of his tension with a heavy sigh.

"Laura will be fine," Marcus stated with a little more confidence than before. "She enjoys bickering with us too much to quit now."

Rodney nodded, hoping he was right but at the same time he knew Laura's condition wasn't good.

* * *

He banged his fist on the desk feeling the impact all the way up his arm but ignored it. The screen which moments ago had been filled with an image of the Admiral was blank now but he didn't think he'd ever hated it so much. He took a deep breath, calming himself as much as his anger would allow, it would do no good to lose his head, that would only make everything harder, land him in hotter water than he was already in. He sat back down in his chair, leaning back and letting his mind wonder its own course, find its own solutions to the multitude of problems he had to deal with. The Admiral wanted progress, something that he was seriously lacking in. His anger came back in a very fast wave when the door chime interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it?" he snapped at the door as though it was the doors fault that someone one the other side had pressed the button. It opened, his second in command walking in, he seemed mostly calm but Kolya could see his wariness as he approached his commander. Kolya could admit, to himself, that he had a small amount of respect for his second in command. He had never once failed to follow orders and unlike many colonels, he'd never made an attempt on his commander's life. He knew his place, knew his job and he did it well.

"Sir," he greeted respectfully, he knew being anywhere near Kolya when he was in a bad mood was like walking on thin ice, one wrong move and that was it.

"What is it?" Kolya repeated his question, he better not have to repeat it again.

"We've received a report from our spies within the Alliance," he explained "Dex and Emmagan have been released from prison; they're working with the Alliance to try and stop the Shadow Warriors."

As if Kolya's mood hadn't been bad enough. His second in command knew how thin the ice he was standing on now was, he was keeping his distance from the desk, standing almost to attention and keeping quiet. Kolya dismissed him with a growled order and the Colonel wasted no time in getting out of his office.

The traitor.

Kolya had suffered greatly for what Dex had done; the Admiral had punished him for allowing the Electus to escape. He'd made Kolya's life hell for months afterward, giving him the worst possible assignments one after another. The other Admirals had mocked and shunned him, most of them still did. The Admiral had finally decided he'd been punished enough and Kolya had spent every day since then trying to earn his trust back, his respect. Once the Shadow Warriors had appeared the Admiral had thrown him a bone, a chance to earn back the position he'd spent a life time earning only for Dex to destroy. He'd been tracking the progress of the Shadows, the Electus; Elizabeth Weir had been making appearances at a number of the sites. It would be easier to find her while she was tracking the Shadows, easier to watch for the chance to take her. Now that Emmagan was involved as well...

If he could get both the Electus, if he could capture them both for the Vernai then not only would he earn back everything that Dex and Emmagan had destroyed when they escaped but he'd earn more than that. There wouldn't be a single other Admiral in the fleet that would so much as smirk a cocky smirk at him never mind make one of their lousy attempts on his life and as for the Admiral, Kolya would be his number one. Then there was the traitor, if he could bring Dex in as well, that would just be icing on the cake.

Not only that but he could make Dex and Emmagan pay and boy was he going to make them pay. He would hurt them in every possible way, the worst possible ways. They'd be begging him to stop, to kill them and even then he wouldn't stop. They were going to suffer; they were going to pay for what they did to him.

He smiled; suddenly his mood wasn't so bad.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Authors Note: I'm horrible, I know. I promise not to be anywhere near as long with the next update. **

**Jessy Luke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked seeing a different side to Rodney. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I wanted to show how close the crew were through their reactions to Laura, I'm glad that worked. That sparky scene was a great to write too and the bit with Kolya. Thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Maybe you should be scared, I know I am lol. I'm glad you liked the sparky scene, I loved writing it and of course who wouldn't like Lorne boxing lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Erin87 – **Thanks for the review, I aim to make you all worry lol. I'm glad you liked the sparky scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **Aww, I'm sorry, a little bit anyway. I'm glad you liked the Lorne and Rodney scene and obviously the sparky one too. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the interaction between all the characters in the last chapter; I was trying to show how close they all were. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 13

Carson jumped out of his chair as Laura moved; she'd been unconscious for over three days now and he'd been getting more and more worried that she wasn't going to wake up. He'd done everything he could for, everything he could think of and there had been moments where he thought it hadn't been enough. Her vitals were still holding steady, they hadn't had any real problems with them in the last 36 hours but before that it had been touch and go. Her eyelids flickered as though she was trying to open her eyes, trying to find her way back to them, to him.

"Laura," he said lending his voice to her to try to guide her. A few seconds later she opened her eyes, she slammed them shut again when the light hit them.

"Ow," she groaned, her voice was raspy and weak but it was there. She opened her eyes again giving herself more time to adjust to the light and she met his worried gaze.

"Hey," he said moving his hand to hers.

"What hit me and how long was I out?" she questioned and Carson smiled as he gripped her hand tighter.

"The shadow and three days," he told her and her eyes widened. Her free hand went to her head and he made a mental note to get her some painkillers. She didn't look too bad, some of the colour had come back into her face since she'd started breathing properly on her own and more of it had come back now that she was awake. The monitors told him that everything was not necessarily okay but acceptable.

"Three days?" she questioned trying to sit up. Carson knew trying to stop her would do him no good so he didn't bother to try, he knew she wouldn't get very far. Instead he adjusted her pillows so she could sit up more but still lay back comfortably.

"You had us all pretty worried," he informed her as she gave up and laid back. There were still wires attached to her head, chest, arm and finger and he could tell she was already getting annoyed with them. She moved one that she had already managed to get tangled.

"What did I miss?" she asked him and Carson sighed as he sat back down in his chair keeping hold of Laura's hand.

"Not much, we left the planet shortly after the attack that put you in here, Rodney detected what might have been the Shadow leaving so we to decided to leave and follow up other leads. Other than that we've not done much, we're on our way to a nearby planet that had a recent attack, hopefully we'll find something there," he explained brushing her hair away from her face and moving a stray wire before it could start getting on her nerves.

"So flying blind again?" she questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah," he answered anyway and then met her eyes. "Don't do that to me again."

"I'll try," she replied with a small smile, it was the best he could get, the best she could give him in their line of work.

He nodded his head and stood up to lean over her, he dropped a kiss on her cheek. "I'm going to go let the other's know you're alright, they've been worried sick about you," he told her. "Even Rodney."

"I'm glad you all care," she said humorously. "And tell Elizabeth if I find out she's been blaming herself then I'm gonna be really mad."

Carson smiled as he reached the comm. port on the wall, he knew at the very least John would be wearing his radio but they all tended to carry them around with them most of the time; his was only in his office in the next room. As expected he got John on the radio and told him the good news, he asked him to relay Laura's message to Elizabeth while he was rounding everyone up.

* * *

John dropped into the pilot's chair on the bridge and hit the flashing button that was trying to tell him there was an incoming transmission. On the screen in front of him the face of a council member appeared. They rarely heard from the council, from anybody, they got sent reports and that was about it, they were on their own out here. He didn't show his surprise at being contacted by them instead he just greeted the councillor, one of his bosses respectfully.

"Councillor," he said with a nod of his head.

"Agent Sheppard, I have some information for you," the councillor told him; her face was the usual mask of indifference. "There was another attack this morning, the reason I'm telling you this myself is because it is on a planet that has seen twenty three attacks. The shadow there is attacking on a daily basis and we feel that you will almost certainly encounter a shadow there. You are to head to the planet immediately."

John had to think for a moment, Elizabeth and Teyla were still pretty tired from their last encounter with the Shadow and Laura was still recovering, they weren't really ready to take on another Shadow. The councillor didn't look pleased by his hesitation so he kept his concerns to himself, he could see how things went and if at any point he didn't like it then he'd do something about it then.

"Yes ma'am," he said and the screen went black without so much as a 'good luck' from the councillor. A moment later the console beeped informing him that he had received another transmission. This one was just data, the co-ordinates of the planet. He set a course, realising they were five days away yet and that was plenty of time for Elizabeth and Teyla to recover. Once the ship was on its way he left the bridge, Elizabeth, Rodney and Marcus were in the eating area. Elizabeth was trying to mediate an argument between the two about... Rodney's missing screw driver?

"Why the hell would I want your screw driver?"Marcus asked angrily.

"You're asking me how your feeble little mind works, I'm sure you had some Neanderthal reason for taking it but I hardly know what it is," Rodney replied and Marcus stood up looking like he was ready to punch the scientist's lights out.

"Marcus," Elizabeth said raising her hand as a gesture for him to stop and back down. He looked at her a moment but then sat back down, glaring at Rodney who relaxed again once he realised he wasn't going to be harmed, at least not yet.

"Why do you even assume that I took it?" Marcus questioned.

"Because there are only two people who have hidden my tools from e in the past, you and Laura, so unless your suggesting that Laura unhooked herself from her IV and all the monitors, which would have set about ten different alarms off, than the logical conclusion is that is was you. Now hand it over."

"I've told you eight times Rodney, I don't have your damn screwdriver," Marcus shouted in annoyance standing up from the table and walking over to the kitchen.

"Rodney, if he says he hasn't got it then he hasn't got it, why don't you go check your lab again?" Elizabeth suggested and Rodney huffed, leaving the eating area while muttering under his breath. John shook his head and went to sit next to Elizabeth, she half smiled her greeting to him but she looked exhausted. She hadn't been sleeping well since the last attack that had left Laura injured and it hadn't helped her body's recovery any.

"We have a new heading," he stated. "I just got word from the council about a planet that seems to be suffering daily attacks from a Shadow. The information is in the ship's computer I'm gonna go through it later but right now we're heading for Lorintus."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Five days if we don't stop for anything," John told her and she nodded her head. She was probably thinking the same thing as him, a lot of people could die in five days but there was nothing they cold do, they were five days away and that was that.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to not stop for anything," Marcus stated as he found the alcohol he had obviously hidden away at the back of one of the cupboards.

"Marcus," John chastised. "If you're gonna hide alcohol aboard at least have the decency to tell _me_ where you put it."

Marcus smiled and came to the table with three glasses, filling all of them and then taking one for himself, allowing John and Elizabeth to take theirs. "I'm telling you, this whole thing could drive anyone to alcoholism."

John drank his in one go, putting the glass back on the table. "I'm gonna go and tell others what's going on.

"I'll let Carson and Laura know, I was gonna go to the infirmary anyway," Marcus said as he stood up again and went to hide his alcohol back in the cupboard. John made a mental note of where it was, just in case it came in useful in the future, with the way things were going, he didn't doubt that it would.

* * *

John walked into the gym, it had been a rough few days in the middle of a rough few weeks and he needed to take his frustrations out on something that wasn't going to complain at him for it. Carson had finally let Laura out of the infirmary but she was in no condition to do much more than wonder around the ship until she tired herself out and got ordered back to bed. Elizabeth seemed to have dealt with her demons again for now but he knew they'd resurface eventually. The crew were refraining from arguing so much and Rodney had found his screw driver. Things had finally settled down in the last few hours and he had time now to vent. He walked in and found Teyla, she was in the unused area of the room fighting with the air and he cocked his head at the strange sight.

He knew exactly what she was doing, there were many people in the Alliance who practiced their martial arts even without a partner but it was always a strange thing to see. He wondered is she'd learned all this with the Vernai, he knew next to nothing about Teyla before she had been captured other than what Elizabeth had told him which wasn't a huge amount. She didn't like to talk about it, she still felt responsible for what had happened to her friend even if she had come to terms with the knowledge that there had really been nothing she could do.

Teyla stopped and sighed. "Do you plan to stand there watching me for much longer, it's distracting," she stated in annoyance and he smirked and walked further into the room.

"You're good, learn all that with the Vernai?" he questioned.

"Ronon taught me," she told him and then took up position to start again. "Now why don't you stick to your gym equipment and let me concentrate on actual fighting skills."

John raised an eyebrow at her, that sounded an awful lot like a challenge to him. "You think I can't fight."

"Alliance relies on their weapons," she stated and while there was some truth in that for the soldiers, Agents were something else entirely.

"We're trained for hand to hand combat as well, especially Agents," he told her and she stopped and looked at him, challenge written all over her.

"Prove it," she said and he raised his eyebrow at her. This was ridiculous but he was never one to back down from a challenge or a fight. He dropped his kitbag at the side of the room and walked over to her. She smiled slightly and took something out of her own bag. She held two wooden sticks out to him. "You know what these are?"

"Bantos rods," he replied.

"Know how to use them?"

"Yes," he told her almost indignantly, why did she assume he couldn't fight without a gun? If the Vernai could do it then it only stood to reason that the Alliance would train its people to be able to combat it.

"Good, these are my spares, you can use them," she told him and he accepted them swinging them around in his hand just to prove to her he'd used them before. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at him now and she smiled as she picked up her own.

They moved into position and for several moments they didn't even move, just watched the other, judging. They started to circle each other still trying to figure the other one out, waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually Teyla moved, she came at him quicker than he'd been expecting and he only just had time to block the stick that was aiming for his head and the second one that was making an attempt on his ribs. He swung his own at her head but she blocked it and spun away from him putting some distance between them. Again they circled each other and it was John who moved first this time, he went for her head first but at the last moment changed direction and brought his other stick toward her abdomen.

She almost didn't see the change quickly enough, she spun away from him again and he only managed to catch her arm as she did so. Seeming to reassess the situation she gripped the bantos rods tighter and moved around him again.

"You have done this before," she stated and he kept his eyes on her. He wouldn't be distracted by her talking, that was a rookie mistake and he hadn't made those in years. He nodded his head and she swung for him again, he moved his head backward, the stick coming close to his face but missing him. "Part of your training?" she questioned and he nodded again.

"Agents are trained in most forms of combat, especially those the Vernai may use," he told her.

"Then Elizabeth will know it too?" she asked him and there was something about the way she said it that told him it bothered her.

"Of course, I trained her," he informed her and then made a move, stepping forward he swung for her, the bantos rod connecting with hers. She brought her other one toward his head again but he blocked that one as well. "Why do you hate her, she never did anything to you?" he asked her. He had always wondered what had changed her from the girl Elizabeth described to him to the person she was now.

"Why would I not?" she questioned back moving away from him. "She abandoned me, as did the rest of the Alliance."

"That's not true," he told her and she went for him again with more force. The movement was so quick he didn't even have time to react, before he knew it she was hitting the back of his legs and he was on his knees with a bantos rod pressed to his neck as she stood behind him holding him in place.

"Do not lie to me or make excuses, the Alliance left me to my fate at the hands of the Vernai and had it not been for Ronon the frail girl I was then would have been destroyed," she stated angrily.

"We didn't even know you were alive, never mind that they had you," John replied and she pushed him away from her. He put his hands to the floor to steady himself and then quickly got back to his feet, when he turned around she was already putting all four bantos rods into her bag.

"I do not care for your excuses," she said as she picked up her bag and left. John put his hand to his neck and sighed, things were not going to get any easier on this ship any time soon.

* * *

Arriving on the planet it was immediately apparent that these people had been suffering. Elizabeth swallowed back any guilt she might me feeling over it, she was doing the best she could and once she figured out how to destroy these things she'd be able to stop all of this. They were all stood at the bottom of the ship's docking ramp as John split them up to do their usual things.

"Rodney, they're sending an officer to escort you to all of the scenes, get whatever evidence you can from them. Marcus go with Carson to the morgue so he can do his thing," John said and Elizabeth saw Laura stand up straight to protest.

"What about me?" she asked.

"You're still recovering, you'll be staying here," he told her and cut off the oncoming protest before she could make it. "Laura, you're barely out of the infirmary and it takes ten minutes of aimless wondering around the ship before you need to rest, you're staying here."

There was a finality to John's tone that even Laura couldn't ignore and coupled with the look she got from Carson she huffed and gave up. "Fine, I'll just go sit around and do nothing," she stated in annoyance as she stormed back into the ship.

"I don't think she was too happy about that," Marcus said as he watched her go.

"She'll get over it but at least she won't be in the infirmary from over doing it," John replied and then sent everyone on their way. As usual Elizabeth and John were interviewing the witnesses, it was a delicate job and they'd gotten pretty damn good at it now, she wasn't sure she counted that as a good thing. "I've got the witness list here," John said holding up two data pads. "Problem is there's about fifty witnesses on here and it'll take us forever to get through them all."

"So what do you want to do?" Elizabeth questioned and was slightly surprised as he handed one of the pads to Ronon.

"That's half the witness list; the addresses are next to the names. You've seen me and Elizabeth do it a few times now, you and Teyla should be able to handle it," he told them and it seemed she wasn't the only one surprised.

"You're letting us go off alone?" Ronon questioned incredulously.

"It's either that or spend the next few days trying to interview everyone but if you cross me or do anything that I don't like, you'll both be back in your jail cells before you can even think about doing it again," John stated warningly and both former Vernai nodded their heads and went on their way before John could change his mind.

"You could have split us up between them instead of sending them together," Elizabeth pointed out once they were gone and John shrugged.

"We need to start working with them better or things on the ship are never gonna calm down, besides, it's time they started earning their keep."

* * *

Teyla wasn't sure how Elizabeth and Agent Sheppard managed this so often and she wasn't even sure at that point how she'd been able to work for the Vernai. They'd spent the entire day interviewing witnesses, one after another; mostly bereaved family members who'd lost a loved one, men, women and children who had suffered horrible deaths in front of their family. It was draining to say the least and she was starting to empathise with these people, she was starting to feel what they felt and worst of all she was starting to feel guilt.

They were all things to be dealt with another time when she didn't have another five interviews to get through after this one. She was kinda glad it was almost over and she was so not going to be doing this again, Ronon seemed to feel the same.

"I've never seem him so scared," the woman said, it had been her husband killed by the Shadow along with a family friend who'd been with him at the time. They'd been in the garden at home, the wife, Teresa, had come inside to find their daughter and when she'd gone back out the Shadow had already killed her friend and was taking the life of her husband.

"It was all around him and I couldn't move, Lindsey was behind me and I felt her trying to get passed. I sent her back into the house before she could see anything and when I looked at Jonathon again he was dead. The Shadow let go of him and hung around for a moment, like a man standing in the garden watching me. Then it disappeared into the shadows and I ran back inside, I grabbed Lindsey and ran to a neighbour's house. I was too afraid to stay here."

"Were there any flashes of light?" Teyla questioned and the woman shook her head.

"I don't think so but I didn't see the whole thing," she told them and there was noise at the side of the room. The door creaked open and a little girl stepped into the room looking a little afraid. She had to be about three years old, too young to understand what was happening, too young to have to go through it in the first place.

"Lindsey, I told you to play in your room," Teresa said holding her hand out to the girl who walked over to her quietly.

"Mummy, when is daddy coming home?" she asked as Teresa pulled her onto her knee, trying not cry at the little girls words. She hugged her close instead and looked at Ronon and Teyla.

"I've tried to tell her, as much as you can tell a three year old, she doesn't understand, she keeps asking when he's coming back and I have to keep telling her that he's not," the woman said tears in her eyes and Teyla knew if she stayed there any longer she was going to have to fight back tears of her own. It was a feeling she didn't like, it wasn't welcome and she didn't want it.

"Well thank you for your time," she said standing up and gesturing for Ronon to do the same.

"We're very sorry for your loss," Ronon told her with a last look at the little girl. "We'll see ourselves out."

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you liked John's and Teyla's face off. I think it's important to get everything out in the open before everyone's going to be able to move on and that was just one way to do it. As for Ronon and Elizabeth, I don't know, maybe something like that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **Ronon and Teyla are slowly starting to change, to realise that maybe they really had been fighting for the wrong side for the wrong reasons. I'm glad you liked the scene between Rodney and Marcus, I'm really enjoying writing the interaction between the characters lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jessy Luke – **Thanks for the review. There's going to be a lot Elizabeth and Teyla interaction as the story unfolds but first I think they both have to come to terms with each other and how much they've both changed. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **I'm glad you liked the scene between John and Teyla; it felt important to get some stuff out into the open for everyone. The last scene was kinda sad wasn't it, I feel mean writing stuff like that sometimes lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Both Teyla and Ronon are starting to realise they were fighting for the wrong side and it's beginning to change how they see things now. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and yeah it is a little angsty lol. There will be a lot more Elizabeth and John as the series goes on and there will be more in this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 14

It was a testament to her life that the only time she could eat anywhere but her room and still have peace and quiet was in the middle of the night. If she attempted to eat in the eating area during the day then she'd have Lorne, Cadman and McKay glaring at her and probably starting an argument. So Teyla and Ronon had taken to having a very late dinner, slipping out of their rooms when the others were all in bed and making themselves something to eat.

Teyla ate the last of her food and stood up to clear her plate, washing it and putting it away before rejoining Ronon at the table. It almost felt normal, the two of them sitting here just enjoying a quiet meal, it almost felt like old times. On his ship they'd almost always had dinner together, it had been there chance to talk without having to worry about the watchful eyes of his crew, back then their nights had been used for other things. She shook her head, getting rid of that thought before it could settle, that was not a place she needed her mind to take her.

"What's wrong?" Ronon asked her concerned but she brushed it off.

"Nothing, just tired," she lied and he narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't believe her but he didn't push her further, part of her almost wished he did.

"Today was rough," Ronon stated and she nodded. There'd been another shadow attack, this one on the outskirts of the city. An elderly man had been the victim; he'd been on his way to visit his son and grand children. It was only a ten minute walk from his house but in that time the Shadow had gotten to him and killed him. Ronon and Teyla had been left with the unenviable task of informing the family while Sheppard and Elizabeth spoke to witnesses. The son had been devastated, had broken down right in front of them his wife holding him tight. Their oldest child had been nine, old enough to understand exactly what had happened and the look on his face had nearly broken Teyla. The other children had been too young to understand what was going on but still able to know something was wrong.

Teyla didn't think she'd ever been through anything as difficult, Tenal's death, being kidnapped by the Vernai, abandoned by Elizabeth, even the other witness interviews, none of it had been as hard as what she'd had to do that day. The more she worked with the Venture crew, the more she saw the other side of things, the more she couldn't understand how she had ever been able to work for the Vernai. She had done that to people, killed them and destroyed loved ones. Any survivors of those cloud attacks would have lost everyone they knew, everyone they loved, how could she have done that to people?

She'd been so blinded by her hate for Elizabeth and the Alliance that she hadn't cared who she was hurting. Sitting in prison all those months she had never regretted anything she'd done, never dwelled on it but now she was coming face to face with it and she couldn't stand what she saw.

"Teyla, you're spacing out on me," Ronon said and she shook her head again.

"I was just thinking" she explained.

"About?" he questioned and she looked at him wondering whether or not she even wanted to talk about it.

"The people we saw today, the people we've been seeing since we got dragged into this again," she admitted. "I used to do that to people; I used to leave people hurting like that. I never cared, I never thought about it long enough to care."

"I know what you mean," he told her and she looked at him surprised. "What, you didn't think I'd be bothered by it?"

"I don't know," she replied and he smiled and looked down at the table.

"I didn't like it even when we were Vernai, now that I actually have to talk to the kind of people that we hurt... it makes me feel... ashamed," he said honestly and she smiled sympathetically, she knew exactly what that felt like.

"I think we should go get some sleep," she told him changing the subject.

* * *

Laura sighed as she walked onto the bridge. She was more or less recovered from the shadow attack but she still got tired easily. John had finally let her off the ship today and she'd spent hours listening to Rodney ramble on as he collected samples from the latest shadow attack site. It had been a hell of day to get back to work but she supposed most days were exactly the same; they rarely had good ones in their line of work.

She dropped into the chair nearest her, she could see the space port through the large window in front of her but from that angle it was really just the steal wall she could see. She was really beginning to hate this assignment, not that she would want to be on any other. It was just all the death, Agents always saw a lot of death, it was part of the job but never like this, never this much. She would never back out of it, everyone she cared about was here and Elizabeth had absolutely no choice in the matter, she was stuck with this no matter what.

The console in front of her beeped bringing a welcome distraction from her thoughts and she hit the button for the comm. "Venture here," she answered.

"This is Officer Green, I thought you guys might be interested to know there's been a sighting of the Shadow," a disembodied voice told her.

"Where?" she asked sitting up straight in her chair.

"Outside the city, on the coast, I'm transmitting the co-ordinates to you," he informed her and the console beeped again to tell her she'd gotten the information. "We're getting together a search party; we should be at the coast in less than fifteen minutes."

"We'll meet you there Officer," she replied and cut of the transmission downloading the co-ordinates onto a data pad before she went in search of the others.

She found John and Marcus in Rodney's lab, telling them about the sighting before John sent her to find the others. Ten minutes later they were all standing in the cargo bay, armed and ready to go. Teyla and Elizabeth looked slightly nervous, they always did before they went after one of the Shadows and she couldn't blame them. It was terrifying enough for her but they actually had to fight the thing and they didn't even know how.

* * *

The water came close to his feet but receded again just before it touched them. Choosing to be safe rather than sorry Ronon took a few steps away from the ocean as the water came crashing back onto the shore again. They'd been searching for the last couple of hours but if the Shadow had been here then there was no sign of it now. Teyla was a few steps ahead of him, she'd been quiet since they'd left the Venture and Ronon had chosen to leave her to her thoughts, she was worried and he supposed she had good reason to be.

"Over here," someone shouted up ahead. Ronon looked over to see one of the officers that had been on the search with them since the beginning waving frantically. He and Teyla hurried over there, Cadman and Lorne getting there at the same time. "It went in there," the officer said pointing at the cave a few feet away.

"You are sure?" Teyla questioned nervously and for once she wasn't glared at for daring to speak.

"Damn sure," the officer replied. "Unless there's another Shadow running around down here all by itself."

"I hope not," Cadman commented as Elizabeth, Sheppard, Beckett and McKay came running up. "Shadow's in there."

"Great," Elizabeth replied sarcastically. "The Shadow has gone into the dark cave, that ought to make this so much easier."

"We're not going in there?" McKay questioned receiving a nod from Sheppard. "You can't be serious; you want us to go looking for a shadow in there, in a dark... scary cave?"

"That's right Rodney," Sheppard said sending him a look, a silent threat to shut up. Ronon looked at Teyla and Elizabeth, neither of them looked any happier with the situation than McKay did, Ronon couldn't say he liked it either. "Alright torches out, everyone stay close together." Sheppard ordered then turned to the officer. "Keep everyone outside the cave."

The officer nodded and the rest of them headed inside. Ronon took the torch from his belt, flicking it on as he entered the cave. The thin stream of light didn't do much to illuminate the cave even joined with the other lights. The further they got from the entrance the more light they lost and Ronon kept himself close to Teyla. There didn't seem to be anything in the cave, just large rocks scattered around everywhere.

"I don't think it's in here, maybe we should check somewhere else?" McKay suggested his voice not much more than whisper.

"Rodney, if you're not gonna shut up go wait outside," Sheppard replied and Ronon thought the scientist might actually be considering it.

"What was that?" McKay questioned spinning around quickly and shining his light around him but not seeing anything. "Something just moved, I'm telling you."

Then out of a dark corner stepped the Shadow. It looked almost identical to the last one they'd seen; a jagged human form and blank white slits for eyes. It seemed to look over the group before it focused its attention on Elizabeth and Teyla. The two women stepped closer together, knowing already that they could protect themselves from it only if they were together. The Shadow glided toward them, the movement more cloud like than they were used to seeing as it reached out toward them.

Ronon wanted to intervene, to do something, anything. Elizabeth and Teyla weren't much less helpless than the rest of them; they could only protect themselves so much. Neither woman had any idea how they were supposed to defeat the Shadows, they were flying blind and Ronon was left feeling completely useless just standing there.

Elizabeth grabbed hold of Teyla's hand pulling them closer together, the two of them standing their ground as the Shadow closed in. It was like it was reaching a hand out to them, the dark tendril of the shadow moving slowly toward Teyla's face. Ronon had to force himself to remain still, at least for now. The Shadow touched Teyla's skin and both of them recoiled from it, the shadow lunged at them this time, enveloping them both so quickly no one had any time to react. There was light then, dim at first but it gradually grew brighter. It was coming from Elizabeth and Teyla, wrapped up inside the cloud and the screech of agony that came from the Shadow was joined by cries from them.

"We gotta do something," Lorne shouted over the noise but really what could they do?

"Like what?" McKay questioned.

"I don't know... anything," Lorne replied his gaze going back to the two girls. The light was still growing brighter, almost blindingly bright as Lorne took several steps forward. The screeching got louder, the Shadow unwrapping itself from the two girls. Rays of light shot out from them at the Shadow, blasting straight through it in several places and with a final screech the shadow disintegrated.

The light disappeared, Teyla and Elizabeth falling to the ground unmoving and Ronon ran toward Teyla. He dropped down next to her, pulling her into his lap. She was still breathing, that had to be a good sign but she wasn't waking up. Beckett looked over Elizabeth and then Teyla, declaring that they were both alive but they needed to get them to a hospital quickly. Ronon wasted no time in picking Teyla up, waiting for Sheppard to lift Elizabeth into his arms before they hurried out of the cave.

Lorne had already run out of the cave ahead of them, an ambulance was parking on the road nearby, paramedics running toward the cave entrance with stretchers. Ronon reluctantly handed Teyla over to them, he wasn't keen on letting her go but he also new he couldn't do anything for her.

"We'll follow behind in the car," Sheppard stated as he watched the two women get rushed away.

* * *

Teyla felt like her head was about to explode as she woke up. She didn't recognise where she was though her eyes immediately landed on Ronon. He was slumped in the chair near her bed, snoring quietly with a frown on his face. She couldn't help the small smile at the sight of him. Her memories came rushing back to her and she suddenly sat up in the bed regretting it immediately. Her head started spinning and every part of her body screamed a painful protest at her for the sudden movement. The moan of pain that managed to escape was enough to wake Ronon who was on his feet by her side in an impressively small amount of time.

"Take it easy," he instructed her, that would have been helpful advice a minute ago. "Doctor says your body's gonna need a lot of time to recover, whatever you did took a lot out of you."

"Where's Elizabeth?" she asked and Ronon gestured to the other side of her bed. Elizabeth was out cold in the next bed, Sheppard's hand was holding hers, his head resting on the edge of her bed as he slept.

"She's in pretty much the same condition as you, the two of you had everyone worried for a while there," he told her.

"How long was I out?" she questioned.

"Two days."

"What about the Shadow, did we destroy it?" she asked finally getting around to asking about that.

"I'd say so," he replied and she bit her lip as she thought back, her memories were a blurry haze that she hoped would clear up with time. She remembered the Shadow touching her, remembered the pain it caused for both of them. She remembered it lunging at them bringing more pain but nothing compared to what came next. There was a feeling, like she could actually feel the energy building up in her body, moving through it and then pain like she'd never known as light blasted out in all directions. It was like the energy was being ripped out of her body, not caring what it had to go through to get there.

"Are you sure, it didn't just back off again?" she asked, if that hadn't killed it she didn't want to imagine what it would take to finish the thing off.

"Well it seemed pretty final to me, all that screeching, then it kind of disintegrated. If it can come back from that then I suggest we call it quits now," he told her only half joking and she felt a little better. It was dead, it had to be; there was no way it could have survived that. "There's been no other attacks and no sightings since and they were having at least one attack a day before."

Teyla nodded "Was anyone else hurt?" she asked, a few months ago she wouldn't have cared.

"No, the rest of the crew are back on the Venture though I gotta say they've spent more time here than there. McKay and Beckett took some samples from the cave and from the two of you, they went to go analyse them," Ronon replied.

"Have they found anything yet?" she asked feeling her headache getting worse and laying back down, letting her head sink into the pillow.

"Not that I know of," Ronon said concerned.

Teyla looked around her again. "Where are we anyway?"

"Local hospital, paramedics rushed you in here right after the encounter with the Shadow, it was closer than the Venture and you were both in pretty bad shape according to Beckett and the other doctors," he explained and she nodded her head again refusing to try and lift it from the pillow even if she did need to use the bathroom.

"And we have to do this how many more times?" she questioned thinking of the other Shadows that were out there, she was going to have to repeat this whole thing again with them.

"Seven," he replied and she groaned. Seven more times? That was just unfair.

"Doctor Beckett says we'll have to make sure you both get plenty of rest between encounters, give your bodies time to fully recover. If you ask me he was against you doing this at all but since you're the Electus and these things just keep killing people he kept that opinion to himself," Ronon told her and Teyla sank her head deeper into the pillow.

Why couldn't she ever get any good news?

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors Note: I know, I'm a terrible updater but I promise, my ass is working on this story now. Feel free to throw things at me, I probably deserve it.**

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **The connection between Elizabeth and the Shadows will be explained later as well as how they destroy them. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review and I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter. I'm glad you liked the last one; it made a nice change to write mostly from Ronon and Teyla's POV. Thanks for the review.

**Steph **– Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the cave scene. Ronon and Teyla have both come a long way since they were in the Vernai, they just haven't realised it yet.

**Kuro – **I'm glad you liked the Ronon and Teyla parts of the last chapter. They're on shadow down and seven to go. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 15

Carson handed one of the microscope slides over to Rodney; the scientist took it and immediately slid it under the microscope. They'd spent the better part of the last 24 hours going through the samples taken from both the cave and Elizabeth and Teyla. It had been immediately apparent that there was something wrong with Elizabeth's results, there was something there that shouldn't be.

"How could you not have noticed this before?" John questioned as Carson continued to tell him what they'd found.

"It's not the chemical that we'd usually find in people after an encounter with a Shadow or any of the ones left behind at the attack sites. This is something completely different; we don't run tests for it as a standard. The only reason we picked it up this time is because there's so much of it in her system now, it seems to have accumulated over the times we've encountered the shadows, this last one left enough behind for us to finally detect it," Carson explained, gesturing for John to take a look at the slide he'd given to Rodney.

"What the hell is it?" he asked as he looked down at it and then turned back to Carson and Rodney.

"We're not sure, some kind of chemical is the best we have at the moment, we're running some more tests," Carson replied.

"It's also in Teyla's system, there's not as much of it, probably because she hasn't been tracking down Shadows as long as Elizabeth, but it's there," Rodney added.

"Is it causing any damage?" John questioned.

"We don't know, at this point we can't even tell you what the chemical is," Carson told him. For all the tests they'd run so far they hadn't been able to learn much about this chemical at all. They were still waiting on some results though so hopefully that would tell them something. He didn't like not having the answers, this was something inside Elizabeth, possibly something else for her to have to contend with and he didn't know a thing about it.

"We're running more tests," Rodney stated. "Once we know something we'll let you know."

"We haven't told Elizabeth yet either, it's probably best to wait until she's recovered from her last encounter with the Shadow," Carson said. He hadn't wanted to tell her yet, she was suffering a pretty nasty headache and she was exhausted, until she was better he didn't want to burden her with this.

John looked unsure "Let me know when you get the results back," he instructed before leaving.

"Does that mean he's not going to tell her or he is?" Rodney questioned and Carson shrugged. John would do what he thought was best, whether he told her or not was up to him.

"Let's just get some answers to give to her when she does find out," Carson suggested and Rodney nodded getting back to work. The analyser behind him started beeping and Carson moved over to the screen as the results were displayed. Ideally they'd have weeks at the very least to work out what was in Elizabeth's and Teyla's blood but in this situation he had to find out as quickly as possible. He doubted it would be long before they encountered another Shadow and they needed to know what these encounters were doing to the girls before then.

* * *

John walked into the eating area, Ronon and Teyla were sat there eating lunch and the two of them looked at him warily as he entered. He gave them a small nod so they would know he wasn't going to cause them any trouble. He'd had enough of the arguments aboard this ship. Usually it was just Laura, Marcus and Rodney and for the most part those arguments were just amusing despite giving him a headache after a while, at the end of the day the three of them loved each other like family. Now with Ronon and Teyla aboard the ship the arguments had turned nasty, whenever Laura and Marcus were in the same room as the former Vernai an argument could almost be guaranteed. It was an added stress that everyone could do with out.

He hadn't decided if he was going to tell Elizabeth about the chemical in her system yet. Carson was right, she needed to recover from destroying the Shadow; it had really taken its toll on her. She hadn't been able to sleep properly and even what sleep she had been able to get hadn't done much to lift the exhaustion she'd been feeling. She'd had a constant headache too and John wished there was more he could do for her.

Telling her about the chemicals would only give her more to worry about, they had yet to even figure out if the chemical was dangerous. She didn't need that, not while she was still recovering but at the same time he knew she'd be mad at him for keeping something from her. She had a right to know and whether or not he was going to tell her was a decision he was going to have to make quickly. She wasn't the only one that needed to know, Teyla was in pretty much the same position and she too needed to be told what was going on.

John rubbed at his temples; he had a headache of his own developing now. Why couldn't anything ever be easy? All those years ago when he'd been training to be an Agent he could never have imagined that things would work out like this. He'd learned briefly about the prophesy of the Electus, his instructor had been one of those people who didn't believe in it, most people didn't believe even when the Cloud had shown up. He wasn't even sure back then that he'd believed in it and he had definitely never thought he'd get caught up in it.

"How is Elizabeth?" Teyla asked him. John didn't know what to make of her anymore. When she had first come aboard he had disliked her and that was that, in her mind she was a Vernai and only helping because she could get her freedom out of it. She seemed to be changing though, there were moments where he thought she might actually care about something other than herself and Dex.

"She's still recovering, we think that because she's been fighting the Shadows longer destroying one has taken more out of her than it has you," John told her trying to keep any accusation out of his voice, if Teyla had agreed to help them sooner they might have been able to stop more of them Shadows by now and Elizabeth wouldn't have had to spend so long fighting them alone.

Teyla nodded and went back to eating without another word and John sighed, he was going to have to tell them. It wasn't fair to keep something from them even if they were both still recovering from destroying the Shadow. Elizabeth would be furious with him if he kept this from her and it turned out to be something important and that would be more stressful than just telling her the truth.

* * *

"You know Carson will kill you if he finds out you've been in the gym for over half an hour," Marcus pointed out as he continued to run on the treadmill. Laura laughed as she did the same beside him, slowing the treadmill slightly when she started to feel herself getting tired, she was stubborn not stupid.

"No, he'll kill _you_ for letting me work out for over half an hour, he'll just lecture me for a few days," Laura replied trying to push her legs into giving her a few more minutes of running, then she'd call it quits for the day.

"There's something fundamentally unfair about that," Marcus commented, he barely even looked tired yet and it only made Laura more aware of how out of shape her body had become in such a short space of time. She wasn't completely healed from the Shadow's attack yet and it was still taking a lot out of her. Carson had agreed to let her go about her business without the constant check ups from him as long as she didn't over do it, this probably qualified.

"I think I'm done now anyway," Laura said when a pain shot up her leg, her body giving its final protest. She slowed the treadmill to a stop and stepped down, her legs feeling weaker than she cared to admit but she knew it was a feeling that would go away fairly quickly once she gave them chance to rest. She'd only been on the treadmill for ten minutes, she'd spent the majority of her time weight training to try to gain back some of the strength she'd lost. It was ridiculous that she was still getting tired so quickly, the Shadow had really done a number on her.

She walked over to her kit bag and pulled out the bottle of water she'd thrown in there on her way down here. Drinking that she waited for Marcus to finish, she knew he wouldn't keep going much longer when she was struggling, he was nice like that sometimes. He stopped a few minutes later and walked over to the bench, sitting down next to his kit bag and a moment later she joined him.

"You're doing better," he said after a moment and she smiled.

"Not as good as I should be," she replied.

"You'll get there, if you stop pushing yourself so hard," he told her and she cocked her head to the side conceding his point. Part of her knew she was making herself worse by trying to do too much too quick but she also couldn't just sit around, she always pushed herself and now wasn't any different. "I know it sucks not being able to do so much but pushing is only making it worse."

"Stop reading my mind," she joked.

"I'm your partner, if I couldn't read your mind we'd both probably be dead by now," he stated and she had to give him that much. They worked well together, always had, there had been times when knowing what the other was thinking had saved both their asses.

"Want to go raid the cargo bay?" Laura questioned. "I found out where Rodney hid the stash of chocolate he brought on board."

Marcus grinned. "Give me ten minutes to shower and change and I'll meet you there."

"Fifteen minutes, I'm a girl, I take longer," Laura said and Marcus nodded the two of them standing up and leaving the gym. Rodney would kill them as soon as he found out his chocolate stash had been broken into but it was worth it.

* * *

If one more person asked her if she was feeling alright she was going to lose it. She wasn't alright, far from it and she didn't need the constant reminder of just how terrible she felt. Her head hurt, the pain killers Carson had given her were doing nothing to help as far as she could tell. The whole encounter with the Shadow was a blur, she remembered light and pain and that was it.

She walked into her room and straight through to the bathroom finding the small, white bottle of pain killers next to the sink. She took two of them despite their apparent uselessness, it couldn't hurt to try. Walking back into the bedroom she felt suddenly light headed and went to lie on the bed. She would sleep if she thought it would help but so far sleep had been proving as useless as the pills.

They were already going after the next Shadow following reports of more attacks on a nearby planet. They seemed to be stepping up their attacks, there were multiple reports coming in every day from a different planets. So many people were dying and Elizabeth half wished she could do more but at the same time she selfishly wished that she could do less. It was so hard, fighting these things was draining in every possible way, the guilt, the pressure and the worrying on top of that were just too much. Adding even more to the burden was Teyla, the woman still hated her, blamed her and Elizabeth felt a great amount of contempt for her as well.

She put her hand to her head, she could feel something, something familiar but she couldn't quite place it. It was a feeling that had been growing for the last 24 hours, at first she hadn't even noticed it but now it was obvious, constantly on her mind. She sat up on the bed suddenly as she remembered the feeling, it wasn't exactly the same but close enough. It was a presence, like the one she'd felt from the cloud, the one had once taken over her completely and then been a constant threat of doing it again. She stood up to get her radio, to tell John and the others but as though her recognition of it had been a trigger it spread through her, getting stronger until she couldn't move her own body.

It was like her mind had been caged, locked away where it was helpless to do anything but watch as someone else took control of her body. She could see and hear everything but she was powerless to control it. She saw her hand pick up her gun before she walked out of the room heading over to the eating area. John was there, so were Ronon and Teyla and they turned to look at her as she entered. She watched her hand aim the gun at Teyla, the presence within her recognising her as the biggest threat in the room despite the fact that John was the one who was armed.

"Elizabeth?" John questioned concerned, his voice was calm but Elizabeth knew him well enough to be able to tell he was half panicking.

Her finger tightened on the trigger, squeezing it until there was a loud bang and her hand jerked back slightly from the force of the bullet firing. It was heading straight for Teyla, would have hit her if Ronon hadn't dived onto her throwing them both to the ground. The two of them barely had chance to recover before Elizabeth was firing again, Ronon pulled Teyla up from the floor and behind the kitchen counter. John had to duck behind the nearby doorway to avoid being hit himself.

Elizabeth desperately tried to claw back control of her body, desperately willed for it to stop but it did her no good. The Shadow within her had control and it had no intention of giving it up. She finally stopped firing, the gun running out of ammo and Elizabeth realised with relief that the spare clip was still in her room. The others would have time to stop her now, time to do something.

She turned and left the eating area but to her surprise the Shadow didn't head to her room or to the small armoury Laura and Marcus had created. Instead it headed to the air lock and Elizabeth felt a wave of complete terror as she realised what the Shadow planned to do. Teyla and Elizabeth were the only real threats to it and the other Shadows; together they were the only thing that could destroy them. It had tried to kill Teyla and failed, it's only other option was to kill Elizabeth, the half of the Electus it could kill easier.

The shadow locked the door behind it and turned around, the hatch into space was right in front of her. She activated the control panel inside, the red button that would open the hatch was flashing and she could do nothing as her fingers pushedd it down. The voice of the computer informed her that hatch was about to open and still, there was nothing she could to stop it.

TBC

**Authors Note: I know that was a short chapter but firstly I really just wanted to get something posted and secondly I wanted to leave you with that nice little cliff-hanger. I'm cruel on so many levels, I know (ducks to avoid more thrown objects). Next chapter should be up shortly. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Steph – **Yeah, I'm definitely feeling the dramatics over here lol. I know that was an evil cliff hanger but it was designed to create tension and make you all want to hurt me. That last part is probably not a good thing but hey, no one said I was sane. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Kuro – **Aww thank you, I'm worried that if you're not throwing things at me you may be planning something worse; you're a member of the sparky army after all lol. Their list of problems does seem to be getting unfairly long doesn't it? Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thank you for your non review lol. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **I like angst, it's a good plot device, makes for good story telling lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Lizabeth39 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like my characterisations and I know the cliff hanger was a little mean but it was sadistically fun to leave you all hanging like that lol.

* * *

Chapter 16

John's mind was reeling; Elizabeth had just tried to shoot at Teyla. It had to be the Shadow, or something to do with it at least. They already knew the Cloud had been able to take control of her; it only stood to reason that the Shadows could do it as well. He had a horrible sinking feeling that the chemical Carson and Rodney had found in her system had something to do with it; he should have told her sooner.

"Has anyone found her yet?" John questioned as he walked through the corridor, she'd left the eating area a few minutes ago and he hadn't been able to catch up with her quickly enough to see where she was going.

"Not yet, she's not in the cargo bay," Marcus's voice replied over the radio.

"She's not anywhere on the lab level," Rodney informed him.

"The armoury's clear too," Ronon's voice stated and John felt the panic he was keeping under wraps getting worse.

"John," Laura's voice came over the radio urgently, she'd gone to the bridge to monitor internal sensors, to see if she could find her that way. "I'm reading activity in airlock four; someone's opening the outer hatch and I can't stop it."

Fear gripped John and for a second he almost froze. Instead he ran, forcing his legs to move as fast as they physically could to get him to the airlock before it could open. He reached the door, there was a small circular window and through it he could see Elizabeth, she was just standing there staring at the hatch as the computer told them it would open in five seconds. He tried to open the door but it was locked and the safety measures would already have sealed it.

"Laura, I need you to seal off this section of the ship and override the safety protocols on the inner door, get it open." John instructed. Laura said something but John didn't hear it, he tried to key in his access code on the panel beside the door but as he suspected the safety system had already sealed it. The only way to open it now was from the bridge and as the computer informed him the hatch was now opening John realised they were out of time.

Down the corridor the large steel door was coming down, sealing off that section of the ship but it was moving too slowly. "Laura, get this door open."

"I'm trying John, I've stopped the outer hatch, it's not going to open anymore. It barely even got the chance to move at all so there's no danger of her getting sucked out into space." she told him frustrated. He looked through the window again, he could see from the movement of Elizabeth's hair that the air was draining out of the room. The hatch might not have opened enough to suck her out into space but it wouldn't take long for all the air to be drained from the room, she'd suffocate.

Elizabeth slowly knelt down, the air becoming too thin to breathe and John knew from the last time she'd lost control of her body that she was aware of everything. She'd be able to feel what was happening to her and there was nothing she could do about it. She collapsed and John tried again to open the door without any success.

"Laura," he shouted.

"I got it."

The door clicked and John wasted no time in pulling it open. Elizabeth was unconscious and they were still losing air. He picked her up and carried her out of the air lock slamming the door closed behind him.

"Laura, I need to get to the infirmary," he said as he moved toward the steel door blocking his access to the rest of the ship.

"I'm opening the bulkheads," she replied and a moment later the door began lifting again. John ducked under it as soon as it was high enough, vaguely aware of Carson telling him he'd meet him there. John rushed Elizabeth to the infirmary and laid her down on the bed, Carson ran into the room behind him and ushered John out of the way. He started fussing over Elizabeth, talking to himself as he moved around.

* * *

Her brain felt like mush.

That was the first coherent thought that came to her as she woke up. Elizabeth opened her eyes slowly seeing the grey metal ceiling of what she guessed was the infirmary. The beeps coming from her side turned out to be monitors with various numbers and charts on them. She looked down to where John was asleep; his head resting on the bed and his hand clutching hers tightly even in his sleep. She was waking up exactly like this far too often now.

"John," she managed to whisper but it felt like her throat was made of sandpaper. It wasn't his name but her coughing that woke him up and he smiled in relief at seeing her awake.

"Hey, how you feeling?" he questioned and there was a wariness on his face that made her pause before answering. Why was she in the infirmary anyway?

"I've been better," she replied and he nodded his head smiling, some of the wariness drained away but she could still see it there on his face.

"Ah, she's awake," Carson said as he appeared next to John. "How are you doing lass?"

She didn't really want to talk again, every word through her throat hurt and she looked to her side to see a glass of water resting on the bedside table. She tried to reach for it but her hand was stopped before it could even move from the bed. She tried again, looking to see the leather strap holding her wrist in place.

"What's going on?" she questioned.

Having seen what she'd been trying to do John reached for the glass and helped her to drink it. Despite the fact that she wasn't happy about being tied down she took the offered water, she couldn't demand her way out of these restraints if she couldn't talk.

"What do you remember?" Carson asked her and she looked from him to John and back to Carson again.

"I remember being in my room, I had a headache," she told them trying to think back to the last thing she remembered. That's when it came back to her, incoherent flashes at first but then the rest of the memories returned. "Oh God, did I hurt anyone, is Teyla okay?"

She'd shot at Teyla, she had no idea if she'd actually hit her or anyone else but she remembered shooting at her. Then the air lock, the Shadow had tried to blow her out of the damn airlock. She felt emotions hit her in overwhelming waves; fear, anger, terror.

"Calm down Elizabeth," Carson said stepping forward; her face must have been an open book at that moment. "Nobody else was hurt and you're going to be fine after a few days of rest."

"It was the Shadow, I don't know how but it took over, I couldn't control it," she explained and John took hold of her hand again. Carson gave him a nod and walked away tapping his radio as he went and informing the others she was awake and herself.

"We think we know what happened," John told her, the wariness was gone but it had been replaced by guilt. She couldn't figure out what he could possibly feel guilty for, as far as she remembered he hadn't even had to shoot her this time. "About an hour before you started shooting I talked to Carson and Rodney, they'd found a chemical in your system that they'd never seen before. It's in Teyla's too but not in the amounts it's in yours."

"What is it?" she asked, she wasn't going to like this.

"They've been running more tests over the last couple of days," he continued, had she actually been out for that long? "They've taken more blood and tissue samples from both you and Teyla, the chemical is very slowly disappearing from your system along with several others that they hadn't found before. We believe, and this is still just a theory at this point, Carson and Rodney are still working on it but we think that whenever you encounter a Shadow you absorb part of it. Normally it's not enough to bother you but the more you encounter them the more of them is inside you. When you destroyed one you got a massive dose of it and coupled with what was already in your system it was enough for it to take control temporarily."

That explained a lot, why she hadn't been feeling like herself for the last couple of weeks, why her own reflection had felt like someone else's. She looked down at her still restrained arms, the leather straps preventing her arms from going anywhere.

"We weren't sure whether you were going to wake up as yourself or the Shadow, there's still a lot of the chemicals in your system. Carson's trying to figure out how much of the chemical's it takes too take over so we can know if you're in danger. He wants to establish a safety zone, you won't be allowed anywhere near a shadow if you're not in the safety zone," John explained. "Once your levels drop to where Teyla's were when they took the first samples they're gonna take the restraints off."

She nodded her head, it made sense and the last thing she wanted was to lose control again and this time end up hurting someone, she'd just have to put up with the restraints for a while longer. John leant down and kissed her forehead.

"You've got to stop scaring the crap out of me, you're gonna give me grey hairs, I'm not old enough to have grey hairs Elizabeth," he half joked and she smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"Sorry."

* * *

Ronon knew it was a bad idea but being the stubborn idiot he was he did it anyway, he wasn't about to let a pair of Alliance Agents stop him from doing anything. He'd left his bantos sticks in the gym when he'd been sparring with Teyla earlier and he'd only come to get them back. It had been the first time he and Teyla had sparred since they'd left the Vernai and it had felt good to return to something so familiar. He'd gone easy on her since she was still recovering from her fight with the Shadow but even still her mind hadn't been it and he'd won easily.

It had taken more will power that he would have expected to get himself up when he'd pinned her body underneath his, her face so close. It had tested his self restraint to the limit and he might have imagined it but he was sure he'd tested hers too. At that moment it would have been so easy to take back what they'd lost when they chose to leave the Vernai, he wasn't even sure why they hadn't.

Cadman and Lorne were both on the treadmills, talking amicably as they worked out their frustrations. The mood on the ship had deteriorated pretty drastically when Elizabeth had been taken over by the Shadow and Ronon and Teyla had of course been on the receiving end of it. Taking it out on the former Vernai had become some sort of stress relief aboard the ship and even though the mood had improved now that Elizabeth was awake and herself again Ronon wasn't expecting things to get much easier.

This was a stressful mission for everyone involved and at this point things were going to get worse before they got better. There were still seven more Shadows out there, the death toll was rising and now there was the constant threat of Elizabeth and Teyla losing control. He tried to be quiet as he crossed the makeshift gym, moving around the equipment into the open area where his bag was waiting for him.

"This gym is for Alliance personnel only," Cadman stated as she continued her run on the treadmill, evidently he hadn't been quiet enough. Ronon sighed; he was in no mood for this. He ignored the comment and picked up his bag, the bantos rods were on the floor next to it so he picked them up and put them in as well.

"You shouldn't even be here," Lorne commented. "You have nothing to offer this mission."

"They wouldn't even have let you out if it wasn't for Teyla, they would have left you to rot in that prison," Laura pushed and that caught Ronon's attention. He stopped his walk to the door and turned back to them. They had both stepped off the treadmill; they looked like they were actually looking for a fight, like they wanted one.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Teyla forced the council to release you. They offered to free her if she co-operated but she rejected the offer, said she would only help if they released you as well. It took Elizabeth almost dying before the council would agree," Lorne explained bitterly.

Ronon didn't stick around for the argument that would probably have followed. Instead he headed for his room, thoughts running through his head a mile a minute. Teyla had passed up what might have been her only chance at freedom to get him out as well. She hadn't told him that, she'd led him to believe the Alliance had agreed to release him right along with her. Why would she keep that from him? In truth he knew the answer; he just needed to make her admit it.

* * *

Teyla recognised the knock on the door as Ronon so she shouted for him to come in as she folded some clothes. She heard the door open and close, his footsteps following as she put the clothes into a drawer and turned to look at him. Something was off; she could tell straight away that he wasn't just here because he had nowhere better to be. She studied him for a moment, trying to judge what was on his mind but she couldn't even guess.

"What's up?" she asked him conversationally.

"Why did the Alliance let me out?" he asked her, the question caught her off guard.

"I told you, they needed help with the Shadows," she began to explain but he shook his head and cut her off.

"No, they needed your help; they could have quite happily gone without mine. In fact they don't need me at all, so why let two 'traitors' out of prison when you only need to release one?" he questioned and she looked at the floor for a second. "I just had a very interesting conversation with Cadman and Lorne," he informed her and understanding dawned on her. Alliance Agents apparently had big mouths as well as big noses and they seemed to stick both where they didn't belong.

"What do you want?" Teyla questioned. She didn't know why he had come here with this, what exactly did he want from her?

"The truth, they agreed to release you but you refused, you could have been passing up the only chance you'd ever have of getting out but you turned them down until they agreed to release me, why?" he asked her and she found herself looking at the floor again. She didn't want to have this conversation, she had hoped that he would just be happy to be out and leave it at that. She didn't want to tell him that there was nothing for her on the outside unless he was here with her.

"I saw a chance to get us both out, so I took it," she told him but she knew even when she said it that it wasn't a good enough answer for him.

"But why take the risk?" he questioned, stepping forward so that he was in her personal space and she hesitated before looking up. He was here, he already knew the answer and staring at the floor pretending it wasn't true was clearly getting her no where.

"Because I couldn't stand the thought of getting out and living the rest of my life without you," she answered honestly. It was as close as she'd come to admitting the truth even to herself. The fact that she'd be spending the rest of her life without him was something she had come to terms with while she'd been in the prison. Then Sheppard and Elizabeth had shown up and given her hope and all of a sudden life without him didn't seem so acceptable, in fact it had seemed impossible.

Ronon nodded as though confirming something to himself before he kissed her. There was no hesitation in it, nor in the way she kissed him back. All those months in jail suddenly seemed like an eternity and she kissed him as though it had actually been that long. He backed her up, the back of her legs colliding with the bed before she fell back onto it. The prophesy, the shadows, the Alliance, the Vernai, none of it mattered, at least not at moment.

* * *

John walked down the ramp of the Venture, the rest of the crew were just behind him bringing with them whatever they needed. This planet had seen a lot of attacks but most of them had been in the last few days, after Elizabeth and Teyla had taken out the first Shadow. Prior to that this world had only had a few attacks. It was a similar story across the board, all the Shadows seemed to have stepped up their activity since the first of them was destroyed, it was almost like they were angry.

Teyla and Elizabeth had more or less recovered from that confrontation. Elizabeth was still a little irritable but the level of mysterious chemicals in her system had decreased back into what Carson was calling the safe zone. He didn't like the idea of putting her up against another Shadow so soon but there wasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter, every day they waited was more lives being lost.

"Alright," John began ready to give out orders. "Carson, the Medical Examiner is waiting for you, take Laura and do your examination of the bodies. Rodney, Officer Crigg is going to meet you at the first attack scene, Marcus go with him. Teyla, Ronon, Elizabeth, we're going to the police station, we've got a witness list a mile long so let's find out which ones are going to be the most helpful."

The group followed his orders without question, he was the Agent with seniority here and that had made him the unofficial leader of the group. There were moments though when he wished he wasn't the one making all the decisions, it was tiring. Splitting up, everyone headed to their respective locations. John's group were less than half way to the police station when they heard screaming. People started running and John grabbed someone who was passing him by.

"What's going on?" he questioned.

"Shadow, it's back," the man told him panicking. He shrugged off John's grip on his arm and joined the rest of the crowd who were trying to put as much distance between them and the Shadow as they could.

"I guess we're going the opposite way right?" Elizabeth questioned rhetorically and John sighed inwardly before heading toward what everyone else was running from. It didn't take him long to find the shadow, the black creature hovering over the body of a young woman. It hovered there for a moment and John registered Elizabeth moving to stand by his side. Ronon and Teyla appeared on his other side a moment later. As though sensing the threat that had suddenly arrived the shadow backed up disappearing into the shadow of a nearby building. John attempted to follow it but it had found the perfect camouflage and if it was still there he couldn't find it.

"Damn it, Elizabeth, secure the scene," John instructed. Once people realised the immediate danger was over they'd be back, curiosity often got the better of people and this was one of the freshest attack scenes they'd been given. He radioed Rodney and Carson telling them to change direction and get over here before calling the police. People were already beginning to emerge and a couple of teenagers were getting a little bit too close. Elizabeth tried to usher them back but they didn't seem to be taking her very seriously.

"You're not a cop, why should I listen to you?" one of the boys asked.

"Because I'm an Alliance Agent, now get back," she ordered. John was still talking to the police but he kept his eye on the situation, ready to jump in if it became necessary. They didn't seem to be listening to her and knowing she was in no mood to put up with them John was about to step in. Ronon walked over instead though and John made quick work of wrapping up his conversation with the police.

"Get out of here you delinquents," Ronon ordered and Elizabeth went to deal with an older couple who were approaching the scene leaving Ronon to take care of the kids who suddenly seemed far more co-operative. John walked over to join Elizabeth keeping his eye on the crowd that was gathering.

"Police are on their way, they should only be a few minutes," he told her and she nodded her head. Rodney and Lorne arrived a moment later along with a police officer who had probably been the unfortunate soul assigned to escort Rodney around the attack scenes. Marcus and the cop quickly joined Ronon and Teyla in keeping the scene secure and after a curt nod to Rodney, Elizabeth went to join them as well. They formed a sort of circle around the area and John figured they'd have no problem keeping people back now.

"I'll start collecting samples." Rodney stated.

"Just make sure you don't disturb the scene too much, and don't disturb the body until the Crime Scene Unit arrives, the last thing we need is the local police on our back for interfering with their investigation," John ordered and Rodney nodded his head in understanding before getting to work. It was unlikely that the police would be all that concerned with Rodney taking his samples but he'd dealt with local police forces throughout his entire career and some of them could be possessive of their jurisdiction. He may supersede their authority but he was going to be here for a while and he'd rather have the police's co-operation than have to battle them every step of the way.

He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance, the police would be here soon and once they got the go ahead they could investigate properly.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story and I hope you like this one too.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **There's a little more John and Elizabeth in this chapter so I hope you like it. Thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad Elizabeth is okay too lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **(is hit by soft toy) Well I'm glad you don't want to throw anything damaging at me lol. I'm glad you liked the part where Ronon stepped into help Elizabeth, things are slowly starting to calm down on the ship and I wanted to show that. Also, sorry for nearly giving you heart attack, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 17

Elizabeth sighed dropping the manila followed on the desk in front of her amidst the piles of identical looking files. She leaned her elbows on the table rubbing her eyes with the tips of her fingers and hoping that somehow it helped her regain the ability to read without straining her eyes. She'd been going through witness reports for the last few hours, the Shadow here seemed intent on attacking in large crowds leaving her with far too many reports to look through. Unfortunately not one of them held anything particularly useful.

"Hey," a voice said and even exhausted she immediately recognised it.

"Hey," she acknowledged and sat back in her chair to look at John as he took the seat opposite her.

"Find anything?" he questioned gesturing the file covered desk.

"No, not a single useful thing," she replied with another sigh. "I haven't finished going through them yet though."

"Well it's going on midnight, we should head back to the ship, you can finish off tomorrow," he told her and she looked out of the nearby window. The last time she'd looked it had been dawn; the sky had still been pink and orange. She couldn't believe how long she'd been at this.

"It needs to be finished, the faster we get through them the faster we can move onto other things. I don't want someone to die whilst I sit here reading reports," she stated and John cocked his head to the side, conceding her point but she could tell he was ready with one of his own.

"It's no use reading all these reports if you're too tired to take anything in. If you miss that one important piece of information then not only has this has been a complete waste of time but we could end up losing our chance to learn something really significant," he explained and she hated that she had to agree with him. He obviously took her silence as agreement because he stood up and started putting the files back into their box. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and point out that there was supposed to be a system to the way the files were organised. Instead she just helped him put them into the box and then locked them into the nearby cupboard.

They left the police station then and walked through the quiet streets back to the space port. There was a curfew in place so the only people they passed were a few officers on patrol. They were stopped once or twice but a quick flash of their ID meant they had no trouble.

"I can't believe how peaceful it is, it's hard to believe so many people have been killed here in the last couple of months," Elizabeth commented as she looked up. The sky was completely clear and even with every street light on she could clearly see the stars.

"We'll find it Elizabeth, and we'll stop it," he told her and she turned to look at him.

"I know, I just wish we could do it before someone else dies," she stated solemnly. The truth was until the shadow showed itself again they had no way to find it and by the time they had an idea where to look it would have already taken another life. She hated it, hated the knowledge that for her to be able to do her job people had to die first. It was the only way the shadow would show itself, the only way they could get some eyes on it and figure out where it was hiding itself. It was moments like this where she half wished the mental connection she had with these things was as strong as it had been with the cloud, at least then she'd been able to sense where it was, to find it whenever it was within a certain distance.

"You're thinking too much again," he told her and she smiled.

"It's hard to stop," she replied and narrowed her eyes at the smirk on his face as he stopped walking and took her arm to stop her as well. He pulled her to him, kissed her and for just a second she forgot everything else as she wrapped her arms around him. He smirked again when he pulled back and rested his head against hers.

"I can think of a few ways to stop you from thinking so much," he stated and she laughed as she stepped back from him and continued walking.

"I'll bet."

* * *

Tucking the soil sample into his metal case Rodney grabbed another glass vial and started to put soil in that one too. It was tedious work, especially when he'd been doing this for attack scene after attack scene, planet after planet. It needed to be done though, like the mostly useless witness interviews John and Elizabeth had to go through, examining all the scenes had to be done. It could be any scene, any little bit of evidence that made a break through. They still knew so little about the shadows, hell they still knew so little about the cloud and if he could find out anything, any small little bit of information then all of this was worth while.

Laura was with him, she was talking to the officer that had been escorting them around the scenes. He preferred it that way; he could get his work done without interference and without the distraction of bickering with her. He put the last soil sample from this scene into the case and took out yet another vial. There was a water fountain a couple of meters from where the body had been and he dodged a group of kids who he was sure should have been in school as he walked over to it. He leaned over to collect a water sample; he was just pulling back when he felt someone grab his shirt.

"Don't fall in," Laura said quickly making Rodney jump. She clearly found it funny and started laughing as he glared at her.

"I'm not amused Cadman," he told her.

"Really?" she questioned still laughing. "Cos I am."

"Cadman, come in," Laura's radio crackled and she controlled her laughter enough to answer it.

"Yeah," she said.

"There's been another attack; I need you and Rodney to get down here. Aquarius gardens, the officer with you should know where it is," he told her and Laura looked at Rodney, amusement gone and determination in its place.

"Come on," she said and Rodney nodded moving over to his case to pack up his kit while Laura went to inform the officer that they were leaving. They got into the officer's car and he drove them to the scene in almost silence. Rodney's mind was already racing with possibilities and questions, how many victims, how long since the attack, was the shadow somewhere nearby still?

It sounded like John was already there and if he was there then it was likely Elizabeth was as well. If they'd been fast enough maybe they'd be able to catch the Shadow before it got away, maybe this time someone would have seen something useful.

* * *

For once there'd been an eye witness who hadn't been completely useless, while the other witnesses had been panicking and making a run for it she'd stopped and watched the shadow disappear into a nearby building. They were searching the building now from the ground up. Only a few officers had been allowed to help with the search, they didn't know what they were up against and in truth the more people they allowed to help the more potential casualties there were. They were on the fourth floor now and so far there had been absolutely no sign that the Shadow had even been there.

That was until she walked down the corridor furthest from the stairs. She recognised the smell straight away, decomposition, there was a body around here somewhere. She had to wonder how no one had noticed the smell but then she'd met some of the occupants of the other offices in the building and they were more likely to complain to management and get on with their work than check anything out.

"Wow, that's nasty," John stated as he walked along beside her. She nodded her head, it didn't matter how many times you smelt the decay of a dead body, you never got used to it.

"I think it's coming from in here" she stated as they stopped outside one of the doors. She opened it and was hit by a wave of foul smelling air that only confirmed her thoughts. "It's definitely in here."

They walked into the office and it took them only a few seconds to locate the owner's body, it was on the floor behind the desk. John moved to stand beside her when she motioned him over and he knelt down beside the body.

"I'd say he's been here a while, a few days at least," he stated and once again Elizabeth nodded her head as she went to check out the door at the other side of the office. She opened it quickly finding a storage closet which contained only a few office supplies, a couple of jackets and a computer bag but no shadow. There were only a couple of floors left after this one, if they didn't found the shadow they'd be right back to square one and it would probably take yet another death to give them another lead.

There was yelling from outside the office and a second later Laura's voice was on the radio telling them they'd found the shadow. John and Elizabeth both rushed out of the office, following the sound of commotion to where Laura and Marcus were trying to back up the police officers. Teyla wasn't there yet and the shadow would be on the officers and her fellow agents in less than a minute. She ran forward pushing her way to the front of the crowd ignoring John's shout of protest.

The shadow stopped when she reached it as though it recognised who she was and she realised it probably did. There were a few moments where they seemed to stare each other down and the shadow obviously weighed up its odds, figuring that without Teyla she wasn't much of a threat. It pushed forward, shadowy black tentacles wrapping around her and she felt pain coming from where it made contact with her skin.

She felt something else grab her, a hand around her arm and the shadow backed off with a screech. Teyla was standing beside her and she took hold of her hand instead of her arm and the shadow must have known it was in trouble now. It kept backing up, trying to hide itself in the shadows of the hallway but couldn't find enough refuge to disappear. It stopped then and Elizabeth and Teyla walked over to it, they had it cornered and with no where to go it decided to fight them. It tried to envelope them and Elizabeth felt a different pain now, the pain she recognised from destroying the last shadow. There was light, at some point it became too bright and she had to close her eyes. The pain was getting worse too and then all of a sudden everything stopped; there was no sound, no pain, no light... and then no thoughts.

* * *

Carson finished checking Teyla's vitals, the two women had been found unconscious after destroying the second shadow. He'd decided to keep them sedated until Rodney got back with the results of their blood tests. John and Ronon hadn't left the infirmary since they'd brought the girl's in and he knew better than to try to make them leave, especially since he hadn't left either. John was reading through some reports, making use of the time he was in here, Ronon was throwing a baseball at a wall despite Carson repeatedly telling him to stop.

"Mr Dex, I'm not going to tell you again, keep it up and I'll have you removed from the infirmary," Carson told him. Ronon stopped once again but the doctor knew it wouldn't belong before he unconsciously started up again.

Rodney came in a moment later with a file in his hand, he glanced at the two women before he walked over to Carson and handed him the file. "The blood tests. Elizabeth's levels are still higher than Teyla's but they're both way out of the safety zone."

"I don't want to keep them sedated much longer," Carson stated as he looked at the results. "Elizabeth's levels are too high to let her wonder so I'll have to have her restrained until they come down but I'm not worried about Teyla, she won't be allowed near any shadows until they drop into the safe zone but we know that at her levels the shadows shouldn't be able to control her."

"Elizabeth won't be too happy about being restrained again," John stated.

"She'll understand why though," Carson replied and John nodded as he went back reading his reports. Carson heard the regular thud of Ronon's baseball hitting the wall again and turned a glare on the man. The former Vernai Commander caught the gesture and quickly stopped, putting the ball down on Teyla's bedside table and Carson wasted no time in taking it. He ignored the glare he got in return and took the ball into his office.

"You can have it back when you leave," Carson told him and heard Ronon muttering something under his breath.

"Do you want me to go and process the scene now?" Rodney asked John.

"Yeah, take Laura and Marcus with you, it'll give them something to do," John replied and Rodney left complaining about having to take the Neanderthals with him.

* * *

John had been right Elizabeth hadn't been too happy about being restrained but she had indeed understood why and a few hours later her levels had dropped enough for Carson to let her out. Neither Elizabeth nor Teyla were in the safety zone though so there'd be no shadow fighting in the near future. John had told the council as much and they hadn't been too happy that there would be a delay. In the end though they couldn't afford for one of the Electus to lose control again and this time possibly get killed so they hadn't been able to order him to go after the next shadow.

He was using the opportunity to give the crew some much needed downtime. They'd stopped on a tourist planet; the whole place was made up of shops, pubs, clubs, hotels, funfairs and circuses. A day or two here would be enough time for the crew to relax and for Teyla and Elizabeth's chemical levels to drop into the safe zone.

He'd allowed Teyla and Dex to wonder off alone, he was hoping he wouldn't regret it but something told him they'd come back. Laura and Marcus hadn't been so sure but since it meant they didn't have to be around the two former Vernai they hadn't protested all that much. It was just him and Elizabeth left on the ship now, everyone else had left to do whatever they had planned for the day. Elizabeth was insisting that she didn't want to leave the ship, that she didn't need the down time and was in their room reading reports. He was determined to drag her out for at least a couple of hours.

"Alright, come on, we're going," he stated as he walked into their room and grabbed both their jackets.

"I just want to finish these," Elizabeth stated without looking up from the report.

"Finish it when we get back," he stated and Elizabeth looked up at him to argue.

"John..." she began.

"Elizabeth..." he countered. "We're going; I'll make it an order if I have to."

"You can't order me to relax," she told him and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Watch me, now let's go," he said and she looked like she was about to argue, he gave her a look that was a silent order to shut up and get moving. She sighed as she closed the report, standing up and grabbing her jacket from him.

"Come on, the faster we leave the faster I can get back," she stated as she walked out of the room. John smiled and followed after her, sometimes having seniority really had its good moments. "Where are we going?"

"Dinner, shopping if you want to and then we're meeting the others at a bar not far from the port," he told her and she sighed again.

"I'm not getting back any time soon am I?" she questioned and John shook his head as he stepped closer to her and kissed her.

"We're off to the circus tomorrow too," he added and she gave him an incredulous look. "What, it'll be fun."

"Let's go before I change my mind."

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note: Bit of a longer chapter here guys and plenty happening in it. Not beta'd though so I apologise for any mistakes that appear. **

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Not really any fluff in this chapter but it gets kinda dramatic lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **Lol, I was actually mentioned school when I first wrote it but when I read it back I wasn't sure people would get it with the way I'd written it so I took it out. Great minds things alike though right? I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Six shadows left but I have sinister plans, when don't I though really lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Congratulations by the way!

**Jammeke – **I don't think anyone would mind John taking them to the circus lol. Teyla really has come a long way and you'll be seeing a lot more of her and Ronon's progress in the coming chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I like having John order Elizabeth; it makes a nice change lol. I'm glad you liked Ronon and Carson in the last chapter, they kind of wrote themselves in that scene.

* * *

Chapter 18

It had taken about five minutes after their arrival on Coldora for John to come to the decision that it would be best to keep to themselves and keep Elizabeth's and Teyla's identities quiet for as long as possible. There was a lot of anger here, anger that was directed at the Alliance and the Electus for not having come here sooner to save them. There had been over seventy deaths on this world, seventy four people that had been lost so he supposed they had a right to be angry, just not at the people trying their hardest to help. He still had to wonder why the council hadn't sent him here sooner, if he'd known there was a shadow taking up permanent residence on this planet he would have come here long before now.

"So, usual work up everyone," John announced to the group. "Marcus with Rodney, Laura with Carson, do what you need to and get back to the ship. I don't think I have to point out that the locals here don't have a very favourable opinion of us right now so keep to yourselves, don't mention the Electus or our former Vernai and avoid getting into any confrontations."

"You got it," Marcus said and the group split up to do their separate work. Ronon and Teyla were heading to the police station to brief the local cops. It was the first time John was letting them do it solo but he figured that with two shadows down and nothing but help and co-operation from the two of them they'd earned a little trust. They'd be joining John and Elizabeth in interviewing the very long witness list once they'd spoken to the police.

Once everyone had left John locked down the ship before he and Elizabeth walked out of the space port. They received several glares from people who knew who they were and it only re-affirmed his decision to keep the fact that Elizabeth and Teyla were the Electus to themselves. He wasn't sure how well that little bit of information would be received here but he had a feeling it wouldn't be with smiles and a welcome.

"So who's first and should I bring extra guns?" Elizabeth questioned and John smiled even as he considered the idea.

"Martha Daze, her brother was the one of the victims, killed at a garden party four weeks ago along with his girlfriend and a co-worker," John read of the data pad in his hand. He'd skimmed through the information the local police had sent him just before their arrival, this shadow seemed to like attacking groups of people at once, most of its attacks had claimed multiple victims.

Elizabeth nodded her head, just like every other planet they'd been to, every other witness list they'd gone through he could tell she didn't want to do it, didn't want to be here. In truth, neither did he but this was a delicate job and he couldn't just pass it off to someone else because he didn't like it. He had to be here, he had to handle this part of the investigation himself, to know it was done properly, not that he doubted the others could do it but it wasn't fair to delegate this particular task. Elizabeth on the other hand didn't need to be doing this, he could easily assign her to accompany Rodney but he knew her and he knew that just like him she would rather do this herself.

There was an officer outside the port waiting for them with a car, they took the keys and pretended not to notice the glare he directed at them as he left. John rather hated the fact that it was going to take days just to get through the initial stages of their investigation here. Part of him hoped that the Shadow would just show up so Elizabeth and Teyla could destroy it and they could be on their way. The other part of him dreaded it making an appearance because Elizabeth seemed to come out of each confrontation just that little bit worse. She was withdrawn, moody half the time and exhausted, he couldn't blame her for it either.

* * *

Teyla left the police station with Ronon, the cops had been briefed and they'd been glared at, shouted at and accused of not caring enough times to last them a good while. It had been a horrible job but Teyla would rather do that again that what she was about to. She hated interviewing the witnesses, especially those that had watched a loved one die which was the majority of them. There were too many here for Elizabeth and Sheppard to handle alone though and she knew that it was a fair punishment for what she had done as a Vernai.

She didn't know if she would actually change anything, if she would do things differently a second time around. She knew that the people she'd killed using the Cloud had just been innocent bystanders in her war against Elizabeth but she didn't know that she'd actually do things differently given the chance. Elizabeth and the Alliance had abandoned her, left her to die or worse at the hands of the Vernai and she'd done what she'd had to. She'd changed into the person she'd needed to be and done what she'd needed to do to survive the life she'd been dragged into. If she hadn't done those things she wouldn't be here now. The Admiral and Kolya would have gotten their hands on her and who know whether she'd be dead or completely destroyed and wishing to be dead. As for Ronon, he'd either still be a Vernai Commander or have been killed for failing to turn the Electus, either way she couldn't regret how things had turned out.

Something flew passed Teyla's head narrowly missing her and her gaze followed the object. The glass bottle smashed against the wall of the police station and fell to the floor in shattered pieces, she was kinda glad it missed her head.

"I know who you are," a voice shouted and she turned to see the man standing a few feet away, a small mob behind him and all of them looking very angry. Ronon stepped forward prepared to do some damage but Teyla grabbed his arm and he stopped. She looked over the mob worriedly, did they know she used to work for the Vernai because if they did she was sure this mob was about to get a hell of a lot bigger.

"Do I know you?" Teyla questioned choosing to play dumb.

"No, but I know you Electus," he spat out in disgust. Teyla would have been relieved that these people didn't know about her Vernai background but she didn't think being the Elects was going to score her any points on this planet either.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she stated which seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

"I saw you, months ago, I saw you stop the Cloud," he stated and Teyla grimaced at least he'd seen her before the days when she'd had full control of the Cloud and had started using it to kill.

"Alright," Teyla said calmly. "You've got me, I'm an Electus."

"Why the hell are you here?" someone else from the small mob shouted and Teyla could see their little confrontation was gathering more spectators. This was exactly the kind of situation that Sheppard had told them to avoid and while she didn't care about not doing as he'd asked she had understood why he had wanted to prevent this from happening.

"Yeah, you didn't care about us before, why show up now, is it finally convenient for you?" another voice questioned and Teyla's mind started racing with possible ways out of this situation without anyone getting hurt. Ronon was still standing next to her but she could feel the tension coming off him, he wasn't going to stand still for much longer.

"There are other Shadows, we came here as quickly as we could," Teyla tried to explain but the angry mob didn't care about excuses or reasons, they only cared about the people they'd lost.

"Save it," someone shouted and Teyla was actually relieved when the police finally came along to disperse the crowd. She was tempted to ask them what had taken so long but she had a feeling they'd taken their time on purpose. She felt Ronon grab her and pull her away while they had the chance and neither of them spoke until they were away from the station and out of sight of anyone who may have seen the exchange and wanted to carry it on.

"That was fun," Teyla stated sarcastically, she felt for them, a lot of lives had been lost here but taking it out on her wasn't going to help anyone. She understand now why Elizabeth was so guilt ridden when they were doing everything they could to stop them. It was their responsibility, their job to destroy the shadows and for every day it took more people died and it was on them, them and no one else.

"You alright?" Ronon questioned and despite the fact that it was a lie she nodded her head. She radioed Sheppard to give him and Elizabeth a heads up, the last thing they needed was to get caught up in an unexpected confrontation while they were interviewing witnesses, at least this way Elizabeth was aware people knew the Electus were here.

* * *

Two solid days of interviewing witnesses and only the occasional useful fact here and there. They were almost through the witness list and Rodney and Carson were both hard at work in the Venture's makeshift lab. Other than the small mob that had gone after Teyla shortly after their arrival they'd had no more confrontations with the locals which John was grateful for, it was the last thing Elizabeth needed right now.

John and Elizabeth had been on their way to their last witness for the day when they'd gotten the call. The Shadow had been spotted, it was attacking a group of people in the park and John was hoping if they could get their fast enough that they could stop it from killing at least some of its intended victims. Teyla and Ronon were already on the way there and since they'd been closer to the park they'd probably arrive first.

When they got there they were greeted by a scene of complete panic, people were running and screaming, police were trying to get everyone out and Teyla was heading the opposite way. Ronon was right behind her and John saw the two of them approaching the Shadow as he and Elizabeth got out of the car. Elizabeth took off after them as the Shadow began to envelope Teyla, she grabbed Emmagan's hand and the Shadow receded with a screech. John moved to stand beside Ronon; as much as they both hated it they knew they couldn't do anything to help the girls.

The shadow backed away, fleeing into the shade of a nearby tree but not quite managing to camouflage itself. Its eyes were still plainly visible and it turned them on a nearby teenager who had stopped to watch. John saw the movement and the discharge of energy that shot through the air straight at the kid. He ran at him, knocking him down in time for the bolt of energy to narrowly miss both their heads. Ronon ran over to them and pulled the kid up by his arm, shouting at him to run. John wasn't sure what the kid was more scared of at that moment, the Shadow or Ronon, either way the boy ran off toward some officers pretty quick. Elizabeth and Teyla had looked over at them and the Shadow had taken the opportunity to disappear from view.

"The damn thing used the kid as a diversion," Ronon cursed and John nodded.

"Check the area, make sure it's not still here," he said. Ronon and Elizabeth both nodded but Teyla didn't move, she actually looked kinda pale. He knew from Elizabeth how draining it was just to force the shadow back, just to be enveloped by it. "Teyla sit down for a minute," he ordered and the woman looked like she was going to protest but decided against it. John looked around the area, two bodies but it could have been worse, there was no Shadow though.

* * *

Carson had declared both Elizabeth and Teyla to be in the safety zone as far as the Shadow chemicals were concerned and after a quick check up they'd both been allowed out of the infirmary. Rodney had picked up what they suspected was the shadow leaving the planet yesterday evening. Elizabeth figured that since it had lost its brief battle with the Electus it had cut its losses and moved onto the next planet. John had decided to wait over night and half way through the following day before leaving. Elizabeth stood with him on the bridge as he radioed the local police to let them know that they were going. So far the conversation was not going well and John's frustration was starting to show.

"Look, we believe the shadow has left the planet, we detected a discrepancy in the sensor readings that we usually attribute to the Shadows last night. We've waited over night and into this afternoon and the Shadow hasn't shown up. We can't afford to keep waiting around, there are other planets under attack from these creatures and they have no defence against it," John explained.

"And if you're wrong?" the police chief questioned. It had taken all of a minute for the officer who had answered the radio to get his boss involved. Since then what should have been a simple radio call had turned into a long argument. She understood why he didn't want them to leave but at the end of the day they had to make the best decision they could with the information they had.

"If we're wrong we'll come right back with very sincere apologies but there are other planets that require our assistance," John stated, the conversation was beginning to get repetitive which was probably why he was getting frustrated. Elizabeth put a hand on his shoulder and he closed his eyes for a moment taking a breath as the police chief continued to argue.

"You can't just abandon the people here, do you realise how many lives have already been lost?" the chief questioned. Of course they did, they'd had to interview all of the witnesses and were still working their way through the police reports.

"I understand that you've lost a lot of people but would you prefer that we abandon the people on other planets to sit here and twiddle our thumbs waiting for the Shadow that has probably left to show up?" John questioned back and there was silence over the line.

"You have to do what you think is right," the chief stated, there was defeat in his tone now but it was coupled with the same anger that had been there through the whole conversation. "I just hope you make the right choice, if you leave and people are killed here, those deaths are on you and the Electus."

It was Elizabeth's turn to close her eyes now; she had enough guilt about the people the Shadows were killing without this. Now she had the guilt of _possible_ deaths added to her already weighed down conscience. It wasn't as though the guilt from _actual _deaths wasn't enough already. John turned to look at her and she offered him a small smile which probably did more to reveal her guilt than reassure him she was fine. He wrapped up the conversation with the chief and cut off the radio with a sigh.

"Tell the others we'll leave in an hour," he told her and she nodded as she headed for the doorway. "Elizabeth..." he began but she cut him off.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now John," she stated and left the bridge.

* * *

John had a headache, a bad one and he'd spent the last 24 hours drugged up on pain killers that were only barely helping. Carson had given him several disapproving looks as he continued to go about his work as though he wasn't in pain, stressed out and rapidly becoming pain killer dependant. Besides the good doctor who was supplying the medication the only person who knew he wasn't feeling good was Elizabeth and she'd made no attempt to stop him from working, she probably knew better than to try.

"Hey boss," Marcus called from the kitchen as John passed the doorway, he turned around and walked in to find the Agent eating an apple while making a sandwich. "Elizabeth went outside for some air about half an hour ago and I don't think she's come back in yet, you might wanna check in with her, especially since we're leaving in ten minutes."

"Yeah, thanks," John said and Lorne shrugged as he went back to making his sandwich. Elizabeth probably just needed some space but he clicked his radio anyway just to be sure she was alright. He didn't get an answer from her and after a few more attempts he got worried and decided to go find her. The ramp was down at the back of the ship, none of the crew would leave it that way unless they were in the cargo bay or close to ramp and since she wasn't inside he went out into the port to look for her.

He couldn't see her anywhere and immediately the alarm bells in his head started ringing. She would never leave the ramp down and then wonder off. He radioed Lorne to meet him and the agent was there in less than a minute. John sent him to the outside of the space port to see if he could see her but he came back with a shake of his head. Continuing to check the area around the ship John felt a knot form in his stomach when he found Elizabeth's radio on the ground behind some crates about15ft from the ship.

He ran back to the Venture, radioing for everyone to meet him in the main cargo bay and finding most of them already there when he and Marcus got there. Rodney and Carson came in a moment later, Rodney with a file in hand, probably one of the reports he'd been stuck reading.

"Has anyone seen Elizabeth in the last half an hour?" John questioned.

"I saw her about twenty minutes ago, she was at the bottom of the ramp getting some fresh air, as fresh as the air gets in a space port," Laura stated but no one else said anything and John already fearing the worse had to force his mind not to panic.

"I found her radio lying on the floor behind some crates and she's nowhere to be seen," John told them and immediately they all knew something was wrong. It would be massively out of character for her to just leave without saying anything and even more so for her not to take her radio.

"She was in the safety zone right; I mean the chemicals that let the Shadows take over?" Lorne questioned and Carson nodded.

"Maybe..." Ronon spoke up. "The locals have something to do with it."

"You don't seriously think they took her?" Rodney questioned incredulously. "I mean I know they don't like us but kidnapping..."

"You should have seen them outside the police station; some of them looked about ready to kill," Teyla interrupted and John could see an argument getting ready to break out and quickly jumped in to remind them this was not the time.

"Don't even start," he stated and didn't wait for any response from them before continuing. "Before we all start panicking and throwing accusations around we need to be sure. Rodney head up to the bridge and radio her on the ship wide. Everyone else, I want the ship checked top to bottom, let's be absolutely sure she's not on board somewhere before we start accusing the locals of kidnapping. I'm going to go check the port again, go."

Wasting no time the team scattered to do their jobs, John could hear Marcus organising the search as he left the ship. John knew something was wrong, he could feel it but he knew he was right, they couldn't go around crying kidnap without being completely sure. Once again he didn't see her in the immediate vicinity of the ship so he expanded his search. If he didn't find her fairly quickly he was going to head back to the Venture.

* * *

The bag was pulled off Elizabeth's head and the sudden assault of light on her eyes was painful enough to make her close them for a second. When she opened them again she found herself in a large concrete room. The huge windows were high up on the ceiling and there were doors at either end. There were empty shelves here and there, a few scattered crates and boxes. It looked like some old warehouse and she tried to think of where she might be. Her hands were bound to the arms of the metal chair she'd been sat on and her feet were tied to the chair legs. They'd neglected to remove the gag from her mouth, the more her teeth bit into it the more she could taste something unpleasant and she decided she didn't want to know what.

How she got here was a little hazy, she remembered standing at the bottom of the Ventures boarding hatch. She'd had a lot on her mind and they'd been planning to leave within the hour, she'd wanted to take the chance to get some non recycled air while she had it. There'd been a noise nearby, she walked away from the ship to check it out, just a few steps and then... nothing. She guessed someone had gotten her from behind, they'd hit her too if the pain in the back of her head was anything to go by.

There were several people in the room and she wondered which of them was responsible for the bruise that was no doubt forming under her hair. They were talking amongst themselves behind her and even straining her neck she couldn't turn enough to see any of them clearly. There were footsteps and a moment later a man walked in front of her. He was probably in his thirties, gruff and angry looking, stubble around his mouth and a menacing look in his eyes.

"Not going anywhere now are we?" he questioned, there was a sick humour in his voice that Elizabeth really didn't like the sound of. He pulled the gag out of her mouth roughly, it fell loosely around her neck and she had a feeling that wasn't the last time she'd have to taste the damn thing.

"What do you want?" she questioned trying not to sound as afraid as she felt. She may be an Alliance Agent but that didn't mean she didn't get scared and she'd have to be stupid not to be just a little bit terrified right now.

"You Alliance think you're so great, you think you can roll the dice and gamble with our lives but I'm not standing for it," he told her, he seemed to be making himself angrier as he spoke. "You thought you could just guess that the Shadow was gone and then leave. Did you ever stop to consider that maybe it was still here, that maybe you were abandoning us to die?"

Only the police should have known that they were leaving, how could this guy have found out? "Everything we know suggests the Shadow left, we can't just stay here, there are other planets in danger."

"Suggests?" the man echoed the word and Elizabeth wished she'd been able to use a more definite word than that. "You were guessing, you were gambling with our lives. Hell, maybe you know it's still here and you're just running away from it. I saw you confront that thing in the park, you didn't beat it, maybe you can't and you're just trying to save yourselves."

"That's not true, we came here to help, we didn't have to but we did," Elizabeth told him.

"And now you'll stay, you're not leaving this planet until we know for sure the Shadow is gone or destroyed," he told her.

"And in the meantime people on other worlds will die. If you keep me here then more lives are going to be lost. You were angry that it took us so long to get here so imagine how those people are going to feel when we take even longer to get to them. They're going to be killed if..."

She was cut off by a slap across the face, her cheek was stinging and she knew there would be a bruise there later.

"Aaron," a voice snapped, another man somewhere behind her and she could hear his footsteps coming closer until they came to a stop behind her, just out of her line of sight. "We agreed no one would get hurt."

"Shut up Deltan, your the one who told us they were leaving, you want to stop them as much as the rest of us and this is what it's gonna take. You think she'll co-operate with us after we've kidnapped her, no, she'll have to be convinced. If you don't have the stomach for it get out of here," the man, Aaron replied angrily. Elizabeth was tempted to point out that she was still in the room, she might have if she hadn't been busy trying to figure out where she knew the other man's name from.

"Deltan," she stated in realisation. "You're a cop, I saw you at the station when I was picking up some files."

"Shit," Deltan muttered realising he'd been found out. At least she knew how these guys had found out the Venture was leaving; he had to have told them.

"Why would you do this?" she questioned. "This is against everything you stand for."

"Because you didn't leave me a choice," Deltan told her as he came around the front of her. "You were all just going to leave this planet and everyone on it unprotected. The shadow could have killed dozens more people by the time you came back, if you ever came back at all."

"We told you the Shadow left," she said but he shook his head.

"No, you said you _believed_ it had left, a discrepancy in your sensor readings is hardly concrete proof," Deltan reminded her of John's exact words and she couldn't deny that he had a point. A lot of the time they were working off educated guess work, probabilities and gut instincts. They were rarely a hundred percent certain about what they were doing but so far they'd proven to have pretty sound judgement. Deltan turned to Aaron. "I have to get back to work before someone misses me, if they haven't already, I expect her to still be in one piece when I get back."

"Or what, you'll arrest me, you can have the cell next to mine," Aaron stated. Deltan didn't reply, just turned and walked away. She heard him speak to someone else as he left but she couldn't make out what they were saying. "It's funny; he didn't specify what condition that one piece had to be in."

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Authors note: I know another delay but at least this hasn't been my worst lol. This is a longer chapter so I hope it makes up for the lateness. **

**Jammeke – **I do like to write some more serious issues into my writing and it's really great to know that I do it well. You're definitely going to hate Elizabeth's kidnappers and you'll have to read on to find out if John shows up on a white horse or not. Thanks for the review.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Elizabeth had been a bit of a trouble magnet this time around but the rest of the team have their own troubles to come too. Thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Wow, thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and it's always good to get an emotional response, even if it's anger in this case lol. Sorry for the wait, hope it was worth it.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad the twist was unexpected; I wanted to throw it out there without anyone seeing it coming. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Poor Elizabeth indeed, I'm glad you liked the twist at the end. Thanks or the review.

* * *

Chapter 19

He was close to panic now, about as close to it as he'd come in his entire career. He was both helpless and clueless and neither had ever sat particularly well with him, the combination of it was much worse, especially when it was about something so important to him. Elizabeth was still missing, no one had seen or heard anything and it was coming up on six hours since she'd left to get some air. He resisted the urge to punch something, they should be on their way to the next planet by now, both of them sleeping, her safe with him.

"Any word from the police?" Marcus questioned and John shook his head as he dropped into one of the chairs on the bridge.

"Nothing, they're asking questions, knocking on a few doors but there's not much they can do without a lead," John replied wiping his hands down over his face as Marcus sat opposite him. "They're still saying it's too early to throw all their resources into the search, that it's possible Elizabeth wondered away too far and got lost. She wouldn't wonder away though, not without telling someone and she wouldn't leave her radio behind."

"I know that," Marcus stated, John closed his eyes and he heard Marcus sigh. "She'll be fine, she's come along way since we met her, she's tougher than most other Agents."

"Yeah," John replied. He knew how good Elizabeth was, he knew how far she'd come but that didn't stop him from worrying. There were some things that even the best Agents couldn't get through, situations that were impossible no matter who you were and in the end it took one wrong move; one bit of bad luck and the game was over. His mind had already run through every worst case scenario he could think off as though trying to prepare itself for bad news.

"Laura's still badgering the security guys; she's convinced one of them has to have seen something. Teyla and Dex are speaking to everyone else, there's no way she got dragged out of here without anybody noticing anything," Marcus informed him. "I was about to head out and check in with everyone before doing some badgering of my own."

"Good idea, I'm gonna get onto the local PD, see if I can't light a fire under their asses. There are advantages to superseding local authorities," John stated and Marcus nodded, standing up to leave. "And Marcus," he continued. Lorne stopped in the doorway to the bridge turning back to him. "Thanks."

Marcus nodded again and left without another word. After a moment John got up to follow him he quickly checked in with Rodney and Carson before he left. The ride to the police station didn't take long and the moment he walked in he knew no progress had been made in finding Elizabeth. One of the cops noticed him and came walking over.

"Agent Sheppard," he greeted. "We don't have any new leads on Agent Weir's whereabouts yet but rest assured we're doing everything we can to find her. The last thing anyone needs is something happening to the Electus."

John gritted his teeth and kept himself from saying that Elizabeth wasn't just the Electus, she was a person. He needed their co-operation, he needed them working with him on this, he could give them an earful after Elizabeth was safely back onboard the Venture. "I'm sure you are, I just wanted to see for myself. She's a member of my crew and a valued agent, our top priority now is to find her."

"As I said, we're doing everything we can."

* * *

Elizabeth moved her arms, her bruised and red wrists rubbing against the rope where it allowed her the tiniest bit of movement. Her head was hurting; probably from the couple of blows she'd had to it over the last few hours. On the plus side her nose had stopped bleeding some time ago, not that it did much to help with the pain in her ribs. Aaron seemed convinced that if he hurt her enough she'd suddenly become compliant. He hadn't done his worst yet; it was like he was testing the boundaries of how much she could take, pushing a little further each time and though she knew everyone had a breaking point she also knew it would make no difference here. She wouldn't help them, not because she didn't want to but because she couldn't. She was sure the Shadow had left the planet and even if it hadn't, without Teyla there was nothing she could do, she was only half the equation.

"Ready to co-operate yet?" Aaron questioned and Elizabeth didn't bother to respond, he wouldn't like her answer anyway, he hadn't this far. "Fine."

The punch to the face was expected this time though it did little to help. She felt the pain in her jaw almost immediately and she added it to the list o places that were going to be bruised later. Aaron waited a moment before he leaned toward her.

"You can make this all stop; you just have to agree to help us, you have to make me believe that you'll help," he told her. She tried lying before, claiming that she'd help so she could buy herself a chance to escape but he was a lot smarter than she'd given him credit for.

"I've already told you," she began. "The Shadow isn't here anymore, there's nothing more I can do here."

"And I've told you I'm not buying that," he replied. "I know it's still here, it wouldn't just up and leave when it's been here so long."

Now the man thought he understood the mind of these things, that was just great. He looked at her a few moments longer, thoughtful and judging. Whatever he was judging he obviously didn't like the conclusion because she got another hit to the ribs. Deltan had returned a few hours after he'd left something about swapping shifts with one of his friends. He'd spoken up a few times when Aaron had hit her particularly hard or a few too many times at once. For the most part though he'd been a quiet observer watching from the sidelines.

"It left; the shadow left and it's on its way to another planet where it can kill more people without the threat of the Electus around. The other shadows are already doing it, all of them are out there, taking lives, fathers, mothers, children and there's nothing stopping them because you've got me tied up in here," Elizabeth stated hoping that maybe she'd get through to someone in the room, anyone. A few people were looking at her, a little guilt starting to appear so she pressed on. "Those lives, the people that die while I'm in here, they're on your conscience, their blood is on your hands."

Aaron hit her again, his fist hitting her head harder than usual and her vision quickly started blurring. Her head felt fuzzy, more than it already did and she could vaguely hear Deltan talking, maybe telling Aaron to calm it down. She couldn't say she felt all that grateful, he was still allowing him to hit her, it was his fault she was in here in the first place. Aaron's voice soon joined in and Elizabeth felt the gag being pulled back over her mouth again. Her eyes felt heavy and they started closing of their own accord, she forced them open, she couldn't get out of here if she was unconscious.

* * *

Laura had finally managed to get something out of port security. One of the guards had seen a woman being carried out by several men, he'd stopped them but one of them had flashed a police badge, said it was official business and he'd let them go. It had been a huge piece of information and it made Laura glad she'd spent the night driving the security guys mad. She was tired and angry now though and Carson had always told her it wasn't a nice combination on her. It had been cops, at least one of them, that had taken Elizabeth and to her that was way worse than if it had been some random scumbag.

The team had locked down the Venture and headed over to the station immediately. If cops were behind this they were damn well going to find out and if Elizabeth was hurt they were going to wish they'd left well enough alone. John had been quiet since she'd told him what the guard had said and she could admit she was a little worried what he might do when he found the guys responsible. He was a good agent, a good man but she knew he'd do anything to protect the people he cared about and he cared about Elizabeth more than anyone else.

"I didn't come here to listen to excuses, a cop was involved, I want his name and I want him in front of me," John stated angrily as the chief of police tried to come up with a rational explanation for the security guard's accusation.

"You can't even be sure it was a cop, it could have been someone impersonating one," the chief told them. Chief Brightman had a reputation that the Venture crew had been well aware of within hours of landing. He was a tough man, he closed cases, he put bad guys away and he protected his city, right now though, the tough man seemed a little worried.

"Someone involved with Agent Weir's kidnapping had a badge, I want that person and the badge sitting in front of me with a damn good explanation and some information that's going to improve my mood otherwise I'll find them and arrest them for treason," John told the chief who paled visibly and shrank back slightly. Laura had very rarely seen John like this and she couldn't blame the chief for shrinking back, it was a scary thing to be on the receiving end of.

"Treason?" the chief questioned. "All we know is that they're an accessory to kidnapping."

"They're involved in the kidnapping of an Electus; that puts billions of human lives at risk; it puts humanity at risk, that's treason. They help to find her and the council may be inclined to forgo the death penalty," John stated and the chief looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and leaving his office. John and Laura followed him out to where the officers were working, where Carson and the rest of the team were waiting.

"Alright everyone, listen up," the chief's voice flooded through the busy room. "We've got new information on the kidnapping of Agent Weir. An eyewitness saw her taken by a group of five men, one of whom flashed a badge. Whoever these people are they're facing a charge of treason and you all know that comes with a death penalty. Spread the word if a cop is responsible for this then they need to come forward or there'll be nothing I can do to help them. If it wasn't a cop then I want to know how the hell this person got hold of one of our badges."

There was whispering going on amongst the officers now, some of them looking afraid, some just looking shocked. Laura looked at all of them, searching for any sign of guilt, any sign that someone here might have been involved.

"I want to see everyone's badges by the end of the day, call the off duty officers and let them know, they're not exempt from this. If anyone knows anything speak to me or one of the Alliance Agents. I don't need to tell you that no detail is too small, you all know how this works it's your job. Now get to work," the chief finished and the room went from silent to a noisy hustle and bustle in less than a second.

* * *

She could barely think straight anymore, the list of body parts the didn't hurt was now far shorter than the list of those that did almost to the point of non existence. She knew John and the others would be looking for her but she was kind of wishing they'd hurry up about it because there was only so much more of this she could take. To make matters worse there was nothing she could do to stop it despite Aaron's opinion to the contrary.

"Why are you being so stubborn about this, tell me the truth, agree to help us and all the pain will stop," Aaron told her with sympathy that even in her half unconscious state she could tell was completely fake.

"I can't... there's nothing I can do here," she told him, it was getting hard to string sentences together now.

"How do you destroy them?" Aaron asked, it wasn't the first time.

"I told you, I don't know... I have no idea how it works," she tried to tell him again but was hit once again.

"Does the other Electus know?"

"No," Elizabeth replied after a moment to compute the question, it felt like her mind was mush; she was struggling to comprehend what he was asking her. "We just stand together and..."

"Together?" Aaron questioned and Elizabeth cursed inwardly. Her mind really wasn't working properly now because she'd been trying not to tell him that the whole time. The last thing she wanted was for these guys to go after Teyla as well, then they'd have both the Electus and somehow that didn't seem like a good thing, she wasn't even sure that Teyla wouldn't help them in the end. "It takes both of you?"

Elizabeth didn't answer for which she was backhanded but the man smiled at her anyway. "It does, we need the other Electus."

One of the other people in the room came forward, standing next to Aaron. Elizabeth had seen her wondering around the warehouse, her dark hair tied back and a scar on her neck. She'd sent several glares Elizabeth's way when she had refused to help them but then so had the other dozen or so people that had been hanging around.

"They'll already know this Electus is missing, it won't be quite so easy to get the other one," the woman said. Elizabeth sighed, she really hated being referred to as the Electus, she had a name.

"Then we'll have to come up with a plan," Aaron said. "Send Craig to find the other Electus, tell him to watch her and keep in touch."

The woman nodded and walked away as Deltan came over. "Don't you think this is getting out of hand, we've already kidnapped one person and now you want to kidnap another?"

"You heard her, we need them both otherwise all of this was for nothing. This is for our people Deltan, they were just going to abandon us, leave us to be killed by the Shadow and we've stopped them," Aaron explained and Deltan shook his head still looking unsure.

"You know this is wrong," Elizabeth stated. "It's against everything you believe in, you became a cop for a reason, to stop crimes not commit them yourself."

She hadn't quite been prepared for the sharp hit to the back of the head. Aaron was in front of her so it hadn't been him, her vision went blurry again but she could see a man stepping in front of her, something in his hand which had obviously been used to hit her. She tried to focus her vision, to see clearly the man who had hit her but she couldn't, it was taking everything she had not to close her eyes, not to fall unconscious.

"Don't listen to her Deltan, you know we're doing the right thing," the man said, she knew his voice.

"I know that chief," Delton said and Elizabeth felt her already sluggish mind come to a stand still, the chief of police.

* * *

Rodney sat at one of the detective's desks, so far they didn't seem to be finding anything useful and the chief had gone to start asking questions himself. John was in the interrogation room with Marcus and Dex, the two Agents were questioning the officers and they'd taken Dex in there for intimidation purposes. Rodney and Carson had been instructed to keep an eye on the officers, watch for anything suspicious. Laura and Teyla were making 'friendly' conversation with the cops, separately of course but the few times they'd had to talk to each other they'd managed to keep it civil.

The officer who had been the most recent object of the agent's scrutiny walked back into the office followed by John and Marcus. Dex came in behind them and went over to speak to Teyla and Rodney could tell from the looks on their faces they had yet to learn anything helpful. John was looking for his next target and he looked like he was about to call for someone when another man walked over to him. It was an officer, one Rodney recalled seeing around a few times and from the way he was behaving he had something to say.

John motioned for him to follow, calling for Dex as he walked back to the interrogation room. Rodney caught Carson's eyes and the doctor grabbed Laura and Teyla. The four of them made their way into the observation room. Through the one way mirror they saw the officer sitting down at one side of the table. Lorne sat opposite him, Dex stood by the door doing a good job of looking menacing and John stood by the table.

"You're officer Deltan?" Marcus questioned and the man nodded, looking both nervous and guilty. "What do you know?"

"First, I just want to say that I had no idea things were going to get so out of hand. No one was supposed to be hurt, it was supposed to be simple..." Deltan began to ramble off, rambling that John clearly had no patience for.

"What do you know?" he repeated Marcus's question but with more force behind it.

"I was the officer involved in the kidnapping of Agent Weir," he admitted. Rodney's eyes flickered to John and he saw the anger on the man's face and in the rigid way he suddenly stood. He was fairly sure it took all of John's restraint not to do something he'd seriously regret later on.

"Where is she?" Marcus questioned glancing at John and clearly picking up the same problem as Rodney, they needed to get the questioning finished quickly.

"In a warehouse on the west side of the city, I can give you an address as well as the names of the people involved, how many will probably be there," Deltan told them and Marcus handed him a piece of paper and a pen. The officer took them and began to write. "I though I was doing the right thing, I thought it would save lives..."

"Just give us the information we need," John instructed and Deltan handed him the paper.

"That's the address, there are probably about sixteen people in and around the building, most of them are armed, there's someone tailing the other Electus as well. I can point him out to you so he doesn't report back that you're on the way," he informed them and John grabbed the paper, turning to leave the room with Marcus standing up to follow him. "There's something else you need to know, one of the main people involved... is Chief Brightman."

Shock filled the observation room; they'd all spoken with the chief, listened to him giving order to keep the search moving. All the time he'd known exactly where she was, he'd been involved and not one of them had even suspected he could have something to do with it. There was silence in both the observation and interrogation rooms; if possible John looked even angrier than before, he left the room wordlessly. Rodney and the others met up with him in the corridor.

"What do we do?" Laura questioned. "We can't trust any of the officers here; if it comes down to it we don't know where their loyalties are."

"But if like Deltan says there's sixteen of them then we need back up," Lorne stated as he and Dex came to a stop behind John. "We go in there with just us and there's a good chance Elizabeth could get hurt in the crossfire, not to mention this could just as easily turn out to be a trap."

"I'll go with you," a voice said, it was one of the officers. "I'm sorry. I suspected the chief might have known more than he was letting on, that's who it is right? My loyalties lie with my badge and the oath I swore, chief went against that, he went against all of us. I know a couple of guys who you can trust, there's no way they'd turn."

"Would you have said that about your chief before we arrived?" John questioned and the officer looked down.

"Unfortunately no, he has a big reputation, he get's the job done but he's always bent the rules to do it and though no talks about it, we all know he's broken more than a few of them too," he told them looking angry not just at the chief but at himself for letting it get so far. "I know it all sounds bad but in a lot of ways he made the city safer and he has friends in high places, going after him was pointless and I never thought he was capable of something like this, no matter what his reasoning."

John looked thoughtful. "Put your team together, discreetly."

The officer nodded and left.

* * *

Teyla was crouched next to Lorne, the two of them using some long ago abandoned crates for cover. There were two men outside the building, one of them smoking, the other bickering with him about passive smoking. They were both armed; automatic weapons in their hands and Teyla hoped everyone else in the building wasn't the same. She clutched her own weapon tighter, waiting for the signal from Sheppard to move in. After twenty minutes of reconnaissance the rest of them team was getting into position. They'd seen the chief of police exit the building briefly, he'd gotten a cigarette from the smoking guard and then gone back inside, it was all the confirmation they needed that the he had been involved.

It hadn't taken long after Deltan had given them all the information for Officer Crow to show up in the briefing room with a team of six men that he knew were loyal to the badge and not their police chief. The briefing had been short and once it was done Sheppard had Deltan point out the man tailing her and he'd been taken into custody. It had annoyed her to no end to learn that she'd been followed for over two hours without having noticed.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Sheppard and Cadman moving closer to the doorway while keeping themselves out of sight. Ronon was around the other side of the building with most of the local cops that had been brought in for the operation, waiting, like her, for the go signal. She watched Sheppard and Cadman creeping ever closer to the two guards who were still completely oblivious to their presence. A moment later both sprung out from their cover and fired two silenced shots at the guards. Both were kill shots and both men went down with barely a sound. The agents moved in closer checking the two bodies for a pulse which she assumed weren't there because Sheppard gave the hand signal for everyone to start moving in.

She left the safety of her hiding place and slowly moved toward the building. Lorne was right beside her and she saw a couple of officers moving in as well. The next thing she knew her radio crackled to life, the word 'go' being repeated in her ear and they were moving into the warehouse. The large building was basically one room with a small office in one corner; the people were spread out throughout it obviously not prepared for company.

The firing started immediately, bullets going in all directions and Teyla spotted Elizabeth, she was close to the centre of the room, tied to a chair and unmoving. She fired at a woman who had been in between her and Elizabeth and made her way carefully across the room to her. Her eyes continually swept the room, checking for any imminent threats.

She dropped down to one knee in front of Elizabeth, her hands and feet were bound to the chair by rope that had dug into her skin. She had clearly taken some nasty hits and Teyla could tell it had come from a prolonged beating rather than from a struggle not to be taken. Wet blood mixed with dried blood, bruises were various colours and sizes, some very obvious others just beginning to appear. She took the gag from Elizabeth mouth feeling on her fingers the dirt and grime that covered it. She took the knife from her boot as Elizabeth moved her head, still conscious but barely so.

"Hang on Elizabeth, we're getting you out of here," she started to cut into the ropes but caught sight of someone coming at her. She dropped the knife and raised her gun, firing a shot that dropped him to the ground but didn't kill or incapacitate him. He kept hold of his gun, moving it to fire at her but another shot to his head quickly stopped him and Teyla saw Cadman standing close by. She nodded to the agent who turned her attention back to the fire fight that was rapidly coming to an end.

Teyla continued to cut the ropes, freeing Elizabeth's legs and then her wrists; she tucked the knife away again as the sound of gunfire turned into shouts. Orders were being thrown around the room by both Sheppard and the officer who seemed to have been as trustworthy as he claimed. She lifted Elizabeth's head, the woman's eyes were half closed and they looked intent on finishing the job despite their owner's stubborn determination not to let them.

"Elizabeth stay with us," she said as Sheppard came over and Teyla looked up at him. There was anger all over his face at the state Elizabeth was in but his eyes softened as he took Teyla's place kneeling down in front of her. Elizabeth's mouth moved as though she was trying to say something, no sound came out and even though Teyla was no lip reader she could see what she was trying to say, John.

The click of a gun immediately drew her attention along with most everyone else's. The man standing behind them was aiming the gun around, settling on Sheppard for a moment before switching to Teyla.

"You don't know what you're doing," he stated. "You think you can just leave us all here to die but I won't let you."

"We're not leaving anyone to die, the shadow has left the planet, it's gone to kill other people on another world," Sheppard stated, his voice calmer than his expression. The man didn't look convinced, he just looked enraged. Teyla looked him over and that was when she noticed the dried blood on his knuckles and it was fairly easy to put two and two together, the blood and bruises all over Elizabeth, he was the cause.

"You're not leaving, I'll kill everyone in this room if I have to, it'll save more lives in the long run," the man told them, aiming his gun toward Sheppard again now. She looked at the Agent standing next to her and saw his gaze flicker from the man's face to his knuckles and back again. He'd noticed too, he'd come to the same conclusion.

"You're the one that did this to her," it was a statement not a question.

"She wouldn't co-operate, this was the only way to convince her."

Everything seemed to happen at once then, a single comment from John that this was all over had the man firing his gun. A grab from Lorne sent the shot flying into the ceiling and within seconds the gunman was disarmed and cuffed, being dragged from the building to join the others who had been so fortunate as to be arrested instead of killed.

Cadman was on the radio calling Beckett in, he'd been waiting outside prepared to come in and give any medical attention that was required. John's attention was back on Elizabeth who it appeared had lost the battle with unconscious. Beckett arrived moments later and after a quick inspection of Elizabeth at the scene ordered her to be taken back to the ship immediately. Teyla followed the Venture crew out of the warehouse stepping over the body of the police chief as she went.

* * *

John hadn't been too happy about leaving Elizabeth but he'd had things to take care of before they left the planet. Elizabeth had still been unconscious when he left but Carson had assured him that she would be fine. He'd gone to the police station with Lorne to ensure that there were no problems with the case against the people responsible for Elizabeth's abduction. Everything had been fine until the city's mayor had shown up; he started throwing his weight around demanding that Brightman's name be cleared. He'd insisted for hours that there had to be a rational explanation for the chief's involvement and he'd been more than a little angry that his good friend had been killed before he could give it.

It had taken up far too much of John's time to ensure that the charges against the police chief stuck. Deltan had come close to withdrawing his testimony when the Mayor had started making promises and subtle threats. John had convinced him to stick to his story though; once the case was over he'd serve a shorter jail sentence and then be moved along with his family to another planet where they could start afresh.

Several hours after he left the Venture he was finally able to return. Elizabeth was no longer in the infirmary, Carson informed him that she has woken shortly after he left and Carson had released her under orders to get some rest. John ordered Lorne to get them off the planet, the crew would be sending their witness statements for the case tomorrow, Elizabeth's could probably wait a little longer.

He found her in their room, she wasn't in the bed where she should be instead she was sat in the chair in her pyjamas a small light nearby illuminating the room enough for her to read. She looked up as he entered and book marked her pace setting the book down and standing up. He noticed straight away that she wasn't completely steady on her feat and he saw the wince of pain on her face. He made a mental note to check her injuries later, to see every single one of them for himself so he could guarantee Aaron Arbon was sufficiently punished for every mark he had put on her.

He walked over to her and put his arms around her, holding her carefully so he wouldn't cause her anymore pain than she had already endured. She clung to him tightly and he kissed her neck before burying his face in it, taken in the smell of her shampoo, her hair still slightly damp from the shower that he knew had probably been painful for her. For the longest time neither of them moved but he felt himself taking more of her weight with each passing second so he stepped back.

"We should sleep," he stated, it was the first thing either of them had said since he'd come into the room. She nodded her head and walked over to the bed climbing under the covers as John stripped down to his boxers and laid down next to her. She curled into his side, her head resting on his chest and his arms went around her protectively mindful of her injuries. She was asleep in less than a minute and he focused his mind on the feel of her, on her warm breath on his chest that assured him she was here and she was alive. Finally sleep was able to claim him too.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter.

**Mrs Rosemary Weir – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the ending of the last chapter; I thought the Sparky fans might enjoy that part. Also it's good to know that my rebuilding the relationship between Elizabeth and Teyla is coming across well, it's a slow process but hopefully they'll get there eventually. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 20

John had purposely taken his time in getting to Abavon. It wasn't that he wanted to let more people there die but he knew that as soon as Elizabeth got there she'd want to find and destroy the shadow warrior there. She hadn't been in any condition to do that though, it had taken a while for her to heal from the injuries she sustained during her kidnapping and she still wasn't back to a hundred percent. He couldn't stall anymore though, lives were on the line and he'd had to force himself not to think about the lives that were lost while he'd been taking his time, consoling himself with the knowledge that Elizabeth wouldn't have been able to take on the Shadow anyway, not without serious consequences for her.

John had been relieved to find the police on Abavon were a lot more welcoming than the last ones he'd come across. He'd already spoken to the chief of police who had done nothing but express his gratitude that he was bringing the Electus to his city. John had already decided that Elizabeth would be lucky to make it out of his sight while they were on the planet, he didn't care how much having him constantly hovering would irritate her, at least he'd know she was safe.

He landed the ship in the port and headed through to the cargo bay where everyone else was waiting. There visits to these planets were so routine by now that he didn't even bother giving out instructions. He just sent Lorne with Rodney and Laura with her huusband and everyone was on their way, ready to do their part.

"You ready?" he asked Elizabeth once they were the only ones left on the ship. They were briefing the police force themselves this time instead of sending Ronon and Teyla to do it. The former Vernai were getting started on the witness list while John and Elizabeth took on the slightly less stressful task of talking to the cops. It would be a good way to ease Elizabeth back into work and John could get a feel for the cops, whether any of them were likely to do something stupid.

He knew it was unlikely that what had happened on the last planet they'd been to would happen again but his mind was telling him there was still a chance. He partly blamed himself that it had happened in the first place, that he'd allowed her to get taken and hadn't even noticed until Marcus had pointed out that she wasn't around. He knew if it happened again it was all on him, it would be his fault for not heeding the warning and taking better care of her, she wasn't just his partner, she was his girlfriend which sounded odd but that's what she was.

"Yeah, let's go," Elizabeth replied resting her hand on her side arm for a moment as she left the ship, the action didn't go unnoticed by John; he wasn't the only one worried. He followed her out of the cargo bay and into the space port, closing and locking up the ship before the two of them made their way out of the port. The police station wasn't far away, they were usually close to the port, and it didn't take them long to get there.

The chief of police greeted them almost before they were through the door, he shook both their hands enthusiastically and John relaxed somewhat when he sensed nothing but genuine gratitude from the man. Then again, he hadn't sensed any threat from Chief Brightman either and he'd ended up kidnapping Elizabeth and authorising her torture.

"I'm so glad you've come. The Shadow seems to have stepped up its activity in the last couple of weeks. We're losing a lot of people; anything you can do to help would be appreciated," the chief said as he led them through to a large room where at least half the cops on the force had been assembled. They were all sat in rows, many of them turned around in their chairs to have conversations with the people around them. A hush came over the room as the chief stepped in front of them all, John and Elizabeth standing behind him.

"Thank you all for waiting. As you know several Alliance Agents were due to arrive this afternoon along with the Electus. We have Agent's Sheppard and Weir here with us now to go through with you everything you need to know," the chief told them and then moved to sit down with his officers.

"Alright, thank you all for being here," John began. "I'll tell you all now this is going to be a very brief meeting. We don't know much about the Shadows but in the event that anything we do know becomes useful we're going to give you a run down."

"The first thing you need to know," Elizabeth took over. "And this is maybe the most important thing, is that there is nothing any of you can do to combat the Shadows. That's not to say there's no way for you save lives but you should not attempt to confront them. Bullets have no effect on them; neither does any other weapon you have. If you try to fight these things the only thing that will happen is it will turn on you and kill you."

"The only steps you can take against the Shadows are preventative ones; you can limit the number of people it kills by limiting the number of people it can get to. You've already done several things to help with this, imposing a curfew, cancelling large public gatherings. However in our experience the Shadows prefer to attack small groups of people, it will often stay to the outskirts of the city only occasionally venturing further in. It will prefer to stay close to a hiding place and it will probably use the same hiding place repeatedly," John informed them and he could see several officers taking notes as he spoke.

"These shadows don't discriminate," Elizabeth told them. "It will attack whatever targets it fixates on, men, women and children. We believe it picks out its targets and wait for the opportune moment to strike however it will get impatient and attack anyway if an opportunity doesn't present itself."

The rest of the briefing went on similarly, a few questions were asked and only a few of them had answers but the cops seemed pleased to be a little more in the know when they left. John radioed Ronon and Teyla to check on the progress with the witness list before he and Elizabeth started on their half.

* * *

The witness list hadn't been as long as some of the previous ones had been so it hadn't taken Ronon and Teyla long to get through their part of it. They'd even taken on some of Sheppard's and Elizabeth's since, despite stubborn assurances that she was fine, she wasn't moving as quickly as she normally would be. It had been less than a week since she'd been kidnapped and though the cuts and bruises were fading they were still obvious. Her black eye was more or less healed but the yellow bruising was still evident as was the not quite healed cut on her lips. The only other obvious signs of the beating she'd endured were on her neck but they were fading now too.

It was mostly her ribs that were causing her a problem now and Teyla still felt sympathy pains when she saw the woman reach for something or move a little too quickly. The wince of pain on her face would be fleeting and quickly covered up but everyone one the ship could see she was still struggling.

Teyla sighed as closed her eyes and lay down on her bed, she frowned when she heard Ronon chuckle but she didn't even bother to glare at him, she was too tired. She felt the bed dip beside her and opened her eyes to see Ronon sitting next to her with a thoughtful look on his face.

"What?" she questioned when he remained silent.

"I was just thinking," Ronon replied in a tone that told her she wouldn't be getting any further explanation, at least not until he was ready to give it. She knew better than to push him, he'd tell her when he wanted to and not before. She closed her eyes again and shifted to make herself more comfortable on the bed deciding she wasn't going to move from there until tomorrow if she could help it.

She could feel Ronon's eyes on her though and when the feeling didn't cease she opened her own again to glare at him. "Either tell me or quit staring," she said and he smiled as he shook his head and stood up.

"I'm gonna get something to eat, you want mo to bring you anything?" he questioned and she shook her head.

"No thanks," she replied.

"Alright, I'll see you," he said as he leant over the bed, dropping a kiss on her lips before he walked out of the room and Teyla was left to stare at the closed door. He'd been doing that a lot lately, staring at her for no reason. She'd woken up the other morning to find him watching her sleep and as endearing as she found his sudden attention to be, she was more than a little confused as to why he suddenly felt the need to mentally document her every move.

She'd confess to herself the occasional moment of watching him, she'd even watched him sleep herself once or twice but never for so long, never so intently that she got herself caught. She could only imagine the teasing she'd have to endure if he realised she'd been watching him sleep and she briefly considered teasing him for it herself. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable though and if she was honest she didn't like the thought that he might stop doing it.

She sighed again, she was getting soft.

* * *

"I don't care if it's the greatest discovery mankind has ever known, you pull my guns to pieces again and I'll kill you," Laura half yelled as she put the gun back together that Rodney had taken to pieces.

"I just needed one of the parts for an experiment, I've given you it back and it's still in one piece so stop over reacting," Rodney shot back at her and she glared at him wishing her eyes could burn a hole right through his oversized head. She would have leant him the piece if he'd just asked but no, he had to pull her gun apart and take it, he could have broken something and these weren't exactly the cheapest gun parts to replace.

"You want something of mine, you ask me for it, don't just take it," Laura yelled as Marcus walked in the room.

"What's going on?" he questioned looking between the two.

"Rodney pulled my gun to pieces," Laura told him and Marcus raised an eyebrow at Rodney.

"Do you have a death wish, even I know better than to mess with her guns Rodney?" Marcus questioned and Laura smiled. It had become a widely known fact that there were two things In Laura's life that nobody messed with without paying for it; they were Carson and her guns. A lot of her guns weren't standard alliance issue, they were ones she'd bought herself, some of them were rare, a few were custom made and all of them were expensive.

"I was just borrowing a part," Rodney defended.

"What are you three arguing about now?" John questioned as he and Elizabeth entered the room.

"Rodney pulled Laura's guns to pieces so he could borrow a part for an experiment," Marcus explained and John winced.

"Are you nuts Rodney?" John asked and Rodney threw his hands up in defeat and stormed out of the room like a child.

"Well, that was refreshing," Marcus stated as he stretched his arms over his head. "It's been a while since the three of us had a good argument."

"Just try not to be too hard on him," Elizabeth said as she left the room again and John followed after her. Marcus turned to Laura with a slightly confused look on his face that probably matched the one she knew was on hers.

"I don't think we were too hard on him, that was soft and brief compared to usual," he said and Laura nodded her agreement. "Besides, occasionally he needs us to bring him down a peg or two otherwise his oversized head wouldn't be able to get through doors," he continued as Laura clicked the last part of her gun into place and went to put it back where it belonged. Their bickering might be all in good fun but she really would kill him if he messed with her guns again.

* * *

John turned the car around the corner a little faster than he probably should have and he felt Elizabeth direct a glare at him when she was slammed against the car door. He continued to speed down the street, hearing the sirens of police cars that were heading to the same place. The shadow had been spotted in a children's playground at a park in the suburbs. According to the officer who had radioed him it was a busy park, especially at this time of day and would be filled with young children.

"John, I know it's important that we get there quickly but if we die in a fiery car crash on the way there then we'll be of no use to anyone," Elizabeth pointed out as he continued to speed along the road, weaving his way through several other cars as he did so.

"I know that," he told her as passed a large transport truck and barely avoided the oncoming traffic. "Why the hell is there so many people on the road, shouldn't you all be at work?" he yelled and watched Elizabeth flinch as he navigated between two cars.

He was sure he heard Elizabeth breathe a sigh of relief as they pulled up beside the masses of police cars. People were being evacuated from the area, parents running with their children to get out of the path of the shadow. They ran into the park where Marcus, Laura and Carson were already there helping with the evacuation.

"Any sign of the shadow?" John questioned as he ran over to them.

"Not since we got here," Marcus told him and Elizabeth took off toward some trees a short distance away.

"It's this way," she called as she ran off, John and the others were quick to follow her. Ronon and Teyla arrived as they entered the trees and John glanced back to make sure they were following before continuing after Elizabeth. She was moving through the trees quicker than he would have liked, Teyla and Ronon were going to struggle to catch up. "There."

Elizabeth stopped and pointed ahead of her, it took him a moment to see what she was looking at. The shadow was using the darkness created by the trees to hide itself, only the outline of it moving and the white eyes gave it away. It disappeared then, Elizabeth took off after it only to stop where it had been and look around her with a frown.

"It's gone," she stated still looking around.

"What do you mean gone, it was right here?" Laura questioned and Elizabeth shook her head.

"I mean it's gone, I can't sense it anymore," she told them.

"Your connection with them isn't as strong as it was with the Cloud, it might still be here even if you can't sense it," Carson pointed out.

"The park would make a good hiding place too," Marcus added.

John nodded as Ronon and Teyla appeared through the trees. "Alright, let's head back and make sure everyone has been evacuated. Once everyone is out of here we'll search the entire park, if it's still here we'll find it."

There were nods of agreement all around as they headed back out of the trees to where even more cops had arrived. John went to find out who was in charge to let them know the plan as everyone else concentrated on getting the remaining civilians evacuated. He was directed to detective Adams who was yelling orders out as he moved around.

"Agent Sheppard," he greeted as John approached him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. We found the shadow but it left before we could get close enough to it. We can't be sure it's left the park so we recommend finishing the evacuation and then doing a full sweep of the park to make sure it's not still here," John told him and Adams gave his agreement, not that he had much of a choice. He may have used the word 'recommend' but John could supersede local law enforcement in this matter and several others. "Once the evacuation is complete we'll need to speak with anyone who will be involved in the search before they're allowed to participate."

Adams didn't look happy about being given orders but nodded and accepted them anyway as he walked away.

* * *

After spending the majority of the day searching the park nothing had been found, the Shadow had obviously left the area, probably after sensing Elizabeth and Teyla's presence. The team had returned to the ship feeling a little dejected that they hadn't been able to get it but at the same time no one had been killed which was something. Carson finished chopping the last of the vegetables and put them in the pan to cook smiling to Elizabeth as she entered the kitchen.

"I thought I could smell good food," she stated as she sat down on the kitchen stool nearby. "You should have told me you were cooking I would have come and helped."

"It's fine, I don't mind, it gives me something to do other than look through autopsy reports and blood test results, gives me something other than the Shadows to focus on," he told her and she nodded her head understandingly.

"That's why I keep my books with me, they're a good escape, I think we would all have gone crazy by now if we didn't have something else to focus on once in a while. John and Marcus works out, Marcus, Laura and Rodney torture each other, Laura cleans her guns and Rodney does his experiments. I don't know what Dex and Teyla do but I'm sure they have something." Elizabeth replied just before the two people in question came into the room.

"Dinner's almost ready," Carson told them before they could leave again and found himself rather enjoying the look of surprise on their faces.

"You have made dinner for us?" Teyla questioned.

"I've made dinner for everyone, it's my unofficial job since no one else can cook," he told them laughing when Elizabeth swatted his arm. "You assist me," he told her. "If I left you to do it yourself we'd all be in trouble but I'll admit, you've got more chance of producing a decent meal than any of the others."

"I'll take that," Elizabeth replied with a smile.

"Hey, what's cooking doc?" Marcus questioned as he came in with Rodney.

"Food," Carson told him. "Go get John and Laura, everyone else get your butts to the table. Except you Elizabeth, you can help me put everything on plates in a minute."

"Be happy too," Elizabeth said as she jumped down from the stool and went to get the plates from the lower cupboard spreading them out across the counter. Marcus returned with the final two members of their crew in tow and sat down at the table. Laura glanced at the two former Vernai but wordlessly sat down in between Marcus and the empty chair Carson would be sitting in. Elizabeth watched the table for a moment, waiting for some kind of argument or fight to break out but it didn't. Laura started talking to Marcus about a new gun she was trying to get her hands on, Rodney was trying to tell a half listening John about an experiment and Ronon and Teyla were having their own quiet conversation.

"Almost seems surreal doesn't it?" Carson questioned as he stood beside her and dished out the potatoes, his eyes continuously moving between the food and the table. "I never thought I'd see the day all of them sat at the table together and not one argument started."

"Dinner hasn't even started yet Carson, give it time," she joked hoping that maybe the peace could last long enough for them to eat and all go about their own business again.

* * *

The teenager was shaking and very obviously terrified and Teyla did her best to keep him calm while she spoke to him. Ronon, Elizabeth and Sheppard were all speaking to other witnesses while Laura and Marcus spoke to the cops that were present and Carson and Rodney got the samples they needed from the scene and the body. The attack had been during the night, the coroner had put time of death around 2am but the body hadn't been discovered until 7am when the curfew ended. She sighed as she glanced back at the teenager who had probably been on his way home from a party; the curfew had been put in place for a reason.

The body had been found by a young couple but they'd learned very quickly that the teenage victim's friends had been with him when the shadow attacked. They'd come forward just before the Venture crew had arrived and the two agents and two former Vernai had split up to handle the witnesses quickly. She finished with her questions, learning nothing she couldn't have guessed herself and told the boy he could go back to his parents.

"Get anything?" Elizabeth questioned as she walked over and Teyla shook her head.

"Nothing new," she replied glancing at the girl Elizabeth had been speaking to as she hugged her parents. "You?"

"Nothing new," she echoed and Teyla looked over to where Ronon was just finishing talking to the couple.

"I doubt we'll get anything new from any of them, we never do," she stated and Elizabeth shrugged.

"We've got to do the interviews anyway, we can't risk that one of them might have known something, however small, it could end up making all the difference," Elizabeth said as they walked over to where Beckett and McKay were. "How's it going?"

"I have everything I need from here," Carson stated. "I'll be following the body to the morgue to finish up."

"And I'm just collecting my last sample," Rodney added as he put the lid on a test tube and packed it away into his kit.

"Alright, head back to the ship and start your analysis, we've already lost a lot of time on this one," she told him and Rodney nodded as he left. Teyla looked over Elizabeth realising again how much she'd changed since Corlain. She was well suited to this roll, something Teyla would never have guessed back then. There was screaming up ahead and Teyla saw several people running toward them, the shadow following behind them.

She and Elizabeth took off toward it without either of them needing to say anything. Police started shouting, ordering people to get back, to get out of the way. The shadow stopped once it sensed them, froze in place as Elizabeth and Teyla came to a stop in front of it. She could feel something strange, something new, emotion, she could feel emotion coming from it and it made her stomach turn. Hate and anger on a level she'd never experienced before, it made the way she had felt about Elizabeth seem mild and insignificant. There was lust for death, a desire to cause it, see it, feel it and Teyla felt sick. She glanced at Elizabeth and knew the woman was feeling the same things.

It advanced on them so fast they had no time to react, one moment it was still and the next it was on them. They had no connection to each other and the pain was so excruciating she couldn't think straight enough to reach for Elizabeth. She heard the cry of pain that made it passed her lips, heard it echoed back to her from Elizabeth.

Then she felt something else, death. She could feel it crawling inside of her, cold and sharp and dark and it was claiming her a little bit at a time. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe but somewhere in her mind she registered the thought that she didn't want to die, at least not without taking this thing with her. She reached her hand out blindly, hoping that it would find Elizabeth and not believing her luck when it did. She felt the sleeve of her jacket, felt Elizabeth move to take her hand. The pain suddenly became sharper, colder but the dark was replaced by light. Instead of feeling death filling her she felt life leaving her and she marvelled that there was actually a difference even if the end was the same.

She screamed, it was too much and just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, when she was ready to call it quits, it ended. Everything stopped, sound, light, pain, thought, there was nothing.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Authors Note: Kind of a short chapter but I just wanted to get something posted. Exams and RL have kinda taken over everything but I should have more time for updates now. I know I keep saying it but I'm very sorry for the all the delays. **

Chapter 21

They'd been out for a while, neither Elizabeth nor Teyla had woken up yet and it had been a week since they'd destroyed the shadow. They were stuck on Abavon for the time being; at least until the two women woke up but John wasn't complaining, as long as they were stuck here Elizabeth and Teyla were both out of the reach of any Shadows and the council. He'd informed the council that they were still here, that they were going to be here until the both of them were awake and in a condition to leave the local hospital. They hadn't been happy but John hadn't cared, there was nothing him, them nor anyone else could do about it.

He arrived at the hospital to find Elizabeth already awake, Teyla was still out but at least this was progress. He moved to her side, returning the smile she gave him when she spotted him at the door and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Kinda like crap but I'll live," Elizabeth replied with a shrug. "I have to say though, that one hurt more than usual."

"What happened?" John questioned and he saw Ronon sit up straighter beside Teyla's bed, listening in.

"It was too quick, it was on us before we had chance to react, I wasn't touching her so we had no connection," Elizabeth explained. "We had no defence against it. I think Teyla must have reached for me, I felt her hand on my arm and I grabbed it, another few seconds and I don't think either of us would have had it in us."

John nodded reaching for her hand himself and holding it tightly. He hated this whole damn mission, the prophesy, everything and he hated having to keep putting Elizabeth through this; she didn't deserve all the pain it caused her, at this point neither did Teyla.

"That's three down now though, five more to go and then this is over with," Elizabeth stated though she didn't seem as enthusiastic about that as she tried to sound. Five shadows was still a lot, they weren't even half way through yet and this was already starting to take its toll. He glanced at Ronon, the former Vernai commander was pointedly focusing his attention elsewhere now and John smiled to himself before turning back to Elizabeth. He kissed her briefly, resting his forehead against hers and allowing himself to soak up the fact that she was still with him.

"When this is done with, you and me are going on vacation," he told her and she smiled.

"Vacation?" she questioned. "What's that?"

He chuckled at her words, they hadn't really had a vacation since they'd met, they'd had days off, occasionally, but for the most part it had been one mission after another, no time to stop and breathe, no time for just them.

"It's me and you, relaxing on a beach somewhere, no radios, no council, no guns, no explosions, no prophesy, just us, some little beach house, the sand and the ocean," he told her and she smiled again, leaning forward to press her lips softly to his.

"Sounds perfect," she replied. "Just let me finish mopping up these Shadows and I'm all yours."

* * *

She was getting really tired of waking up either in a hospital bed or in the infirmary aboard the venture. She opened her eyes, realising this time it was the former and sighing, wincing at the pain that shot through her body as she tried to move. Ronon obviously noticed because he was up and at her side in an instant.

"Hey," he said as he looked over her.

"Hey," she managed to reply, forcing her aching body to sit up with a little help from Ronon. She glanced to her side, Elizabeth was awake and after a nod to Teyla she turned back to her conversation with Sheppard. She didn't know how Elizabeth put up with it, she woke up in hospitals and infirmaries far more often than Teyla did. She looked back to Ronon who looked unusually concerned for her.

"How bad was it?" Teyla questioned, she knew how bad it felt.

"Bad, you've been out for over a week," he told her and her eyes widened.

"That's pretty bad," Teyla replied and Ronon nodded his agreement. "Just to check, we did destroy the shadow right?" she questioned, she'd hate to think that after all that the Shadow had gotten away.

"Yeah, you did," Ronon stated and she sighed in relief. "I don't like being worried," he added, his way of telling her he cared.

"I know you don't, and I'll try to stop making you do it so much," she replied, her way of saying she cared too. It was a dance with them two, codes and careful moves, neither one of them were ready to admit to their being so much to this thing between them.

"Good," he said with a nod. "At least that's three of them down."

"Great, five more times," Teyla replied sarcastically.

"Yeah but that's almost halfway through," Ronon pointed out; somehow it didn't make her feel any better. The doctors say you're both going to be in here for another couple of days and Beckett already did your blood work. Your chemical levels are still too high for either of you to go anywhere near a shadow. They were through the roof when you were first brought on here; you were both restrained for days even though you were out cold."

"I'm really not surprised," Teyla stated. This one had taken it out of her and she made a mental note to make sure she had some form of contact with Elizabeth before getting anywhere near the rest of the Shadows.

* * *

John could hear the radio beeping for attention from the kitchen. Abandoning his half made sandwich he headed up there and dropped into the pilot's chair, recognising the signal as alliance council. He quickly pressed the button knowing whatever they wanted couldn't be good, other than the reports they sent which was only a data stream, the council had decided that keeping communication to a minimum was best. One of the councillors appeared the on the screen, her face the same unreadable mask he had long since gotten used to seeing on the council.

"Agent Sheppard," she acknowledged him.

"Councillor," he replied. "To what do I owe the call?"

"Unfortunately I have bad news," the councillor stated as though John wouldn't have been expecting it anyway. "We have received reports from our spies among the Vernai. The admiral has learned of your mission and knows that both Electus are now travelling together in order to defeat the Shadow Warriors. He has assigned one of his commanders the task of tracking them down and capturing them."

"Which one?" John questioned, feeling as though yet another weight had been dropped on him and the rest of the crew, as if they didn't have enough to contend with.

"We're not sure at this point but we felt it was important to warn you that the Vernai are on the lookout for you," the councillor continued. "Have the electus recovered from their recent Shadow encounter?"

"Not yet," John told her, keeping his tone respectful even though hers suggested she wanted them back underway already. "They're still being kept in the hospital; we're expecting their release soon. Their chemical levels have not yet returned to the safety zone so they won't be able to battle anymore shadows for at least a few more days."

"A lot of lives will be lost in that time," the councillor began to protest and though John understood her point he couldn't help but get a little annoyed at their lack of concern for both Elizabeth's and Teyla's safety.

"Dr Beckett is still looking into the affects of these chemicals on Agent Weir and Teyla Emmagan. We do not yet know what the long term consequences will be; we don't even know what all the short term consequences are. If they aren't given the time to recover between Shadow encounters then we put their lives at risk, they can't save anyone if they're killed," John pointed out hoping the logical argument would get through to the council. He'd been getting pressure from them to speed things up from the very beginning of the mission, but as he'd said, speed put the electus at risk.

"Very well Agent Sheppard," the councillor said looking less than pleased. "Get underway again as soon as possible and please be aware of the threat from the Vernai."

"Them and everyone else," John muttered as the councillor disappeared from the screen and John leant back in the chair. The crew already had so much to worry about; he didn't like the idea of having to tell them the Vernai were now after them, more than they had been before anyway. Elizabeth and Teyla were both still recovering; the stress of yet another problem wouldn't help them. He also knew if he didn't tell them, when they found out – and they would find out- they'd kick his ass.

Everyone except Elizabeth and Teyla would be back on the ship tonight, he'd tell them all then. Then he'd have to go to the hospital to tell Elizabeth and Teyla in the morning, there was a good chance they'd be released into Dr Beckett's care tomorrow anyway. Truth be told he could have had them released to the Venture's infirmary a couple of days ago but the rest was probably doing them both some good, as long as they were stuck in there they were getting nowhere near fighting any shadows.

"Hey, what up?" Marcus questioned as he walked onto the bridge. "You look like someone ran over your cat."

John rubbed his hands over his face. "Just one thing after another Marcus."

* * *

Elizabeth was glad to be beck onboard the Venture though she could admit the walk from the car to the ship had been tiring. The shadow had seriously done a number on her, she was leaning heavily on John, ignoring the massive amount of pain she was in despite the high doses of painkillers she had running through her system. Carson was fussing, alternating between trying to drive Elizabeth up the wall and annoying Teyla who herself was relying on Ronon to keep her upright.

John clicked his radio with the arm that wasn't holding her up. "Alright Marcus, we're on board, get us underway."

"And let's get me to a bed," Elizabeth stated. She'd spent the last few days wanting nothing more than to get out of the hospital bed and now that she was out she kinda wanted to be back in one.

"That sounds good to me," Teyla said and Ronon nodded taking her toward her room. Teyla in one arm and her hospital bag in the other. Laura followed John and Elizabeth to their room, putting Elizabeth's bag in the corner before leaving again. Elizabeth laid down on the bed, settling down comfortably beneath the duvet and relaxing into the pillows.

"Glad to be out of the hospital?" John questioned as he laid down next to her and Elizabeth moved so her head was resting on his chest.

"Yes," she replied. "You know I hate hospitals, it's just typical of my luck that I keep ending up in them."

"Yeah well, do you think you could try to stop doing that?" he questioned as she smiled.

"I can definitely try," she replied knowing she'd told him that before and still ended up there. "Well, I'm out now, back to fighting Shadows."

"Not anytime soon," John stated and she looked up at him ready with a protest but he cut her off before she could even get a word out.

"You can't even walk from the port entrance to the ship Elizabeth. You fight the Shadows like this they'll probably win and kill you, then who's going to stop the rest of them?" he pointed out. "It's a four day trip to Nalta; we'll see how you're doing when you get there. At the moment your chemical levels aren't even in the safety zone so this is a pointless argument."

"You didn't even give me chance to turn it into an argument," Elizabeth pouted and John smiled, leaning down to kiss her and successfully removing the pout. "So, five more shadows to go, a galaxy full of people that are mad at us because we're not fast enough, the council on our backs for the same reason and now a Vernai commander hunting us down," she listed off their problems. John had told her and Teyla shortly before they'd been released.

"Yep, just one thing after another," John said quietly.

"We'll deal with it, we've done fine so far," she replied making herself comfortable on his chest. They were all problems for tomorrow, right now she needed sleep.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**Authors Note: I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter which is unusual for me, I'm sure given some time I'll dislike it lol. I hope you guys like it too and thanks too; Mrs Rosemary Weir and belanna30 for the reviews. **

Chapter 22

The sensors on the bridge were beeping furiously and Marcus was surprised no one else had come running yet. He shut them off as he arrived on the bridge, eyes widening as he saw what they had been trying to inform him. A Vernai command ship, it had already dropped out of hyperspace right in front of them and Lorne reacted as quickly as he could, raising the ship's shields and charging their weapons, for what little good it would do them against a command ship. Obviously detecting their now defensive status as an intended lack of co-operation the command ship fired on them.

"Vernai command ship, we're under attack," Marcus announced over the ship wide intercom just seconds before the Venture was rocked by the impact of enemy fire. They were hit again only seconds later, several consoles on the bridge sparking and exploding. He scrambled into the pilots seat, avoiding what he could of the enemy fire as John, Elizabeth and Laura came onto the bridge, John taking the weapons console while Laura dropped into the chair at sensors.

"I was starting to think you were relying on my limited ability to multi-task," Marcus stated as he relinquished control of weapons and sensors to their usual consoles. The ship shook again, even with John at weapons and Marcus manoeuvring the ship, they were outgunned here; a small, retrofitted cargo ship was never going to be able to stand up against a command cruiser.

Rodney came onto the bridge, a cut on his head where he'd obviously hit it. His eyes widened as he saw the Vernai command ship through the front window of the ship, huge and intimidating, easily more than a match for the Venture.

"We can't beat that!" he exclaimed, saying out loud what they all knew to be true.

"You think we don't know that Rodney," John replied. "How the hell did it get so close without us knowing about it?"

"I think that's a concern for another time," Elizabeth replied grabbing the back of Lorne's chair to avoid falling over as the ship shook again, Dex, Teyla and Carson stumbling through the door of the bridge.

"They're hailing us," Laura said once she'd steadied herself in her chair.

"Put it through," John ordered, the face of a Vernai commander appearing on the screen, smug and victorious.

"Surrender now and prepare to be boarded, otherwise we kill all of you now," he stated and Lorne heard Dex and Teyla gasp and step back. "We are aware you have the electus on board, surrender or we kill you."

"You really want to risk killing the electus?" John questioned.

"Rather they were dead than working for the alliance," he told them. "I'm not going to tell you again, surrender and prepare to be boarded, or we destroy you now, the choice is yours."

The commander disappeared and Lorne turned to John who looked both thoughtful and slightly panicked, the latter being covered rather well. "What do we do boss?"

"I don't think we have a choice," John replied.

"You can't surrender to him," Teyla said. "That's Commander Kolya, the one that was supposed to take custody of me before we left the Vernai. He'll kill all of you and Elizabeth and I will wish he'd killed us."

"She's right," Dex stepped in. "You have no idea what he's capable of. I left the Vernai, everything I'd ever fought for; everything I'd ever known because I knew what he'd do Teyla, what his crew would do to her."

His voice was laced with meaning and fear, for once Lorne actually felt for the former Vernai commander. He looked at Elizabeth, then Teyla, he didn't like the sound of what was waiting for them either but John was right, what choice did they have. If they didn't surrender, a few more well placed shots from the command ship would have them either disabled or dead, there was no way out of this one.

"They're moving in to board," Laura announced.

"We'll find a way out of this," John stated. "But we can't do that if we're dead, or even if the Venture just gets disabled."

"I suppose it's your call," Dex replied, surprisingly adhering to the command structure. John nodded, a strange understanding passing between the two as the sound of the Vernai ship docking could be heard beyond the bridge. It was too late to do anything about it now anyway. Seconds later several Vernai soldiers stormed the bridge, forcing the crew to their knees and their hands behind their heads. They were disarmed and cuffed before Commander Kolya stepped onto the bridge, the smug, victorious smirk still on his face.

"Look what we found," he began as he looked over the group. "Some alliance agents, two electus and the traitor, my, I am having a good day." He moved to stop in front of Dex, looking at him for a moment before punching him in the face hard enough to knock him backwards. "You'll pay for what you did traitor."

Ronon was forced back to his knees as Kolya moved to where Teyla was being held, he knelt down in front of her, contempt radiating from him. He grabbed her face roughly and pulled her toward him, Dex struggled against the hands holding him but it did little good. "And you, you will suffer far worse than I had originally planned for you, you'll be begging me for death when I'm done with you," he told her and glanced at Elizabeth before standing up.

"Take them," he ordered his men who pulled them all to their feet and shoved them unceremoniously through the Venture and onto the command ship. They were dragged through the corridors, Lorne remembering everything he saw, every direction they turned so when the time came he would remember the way back. Behind him he heard John start shouting, protesting and he looked back to see him struggling hard against the two men dragging him. He followed his friend's gaze, Elizabeth and Teyla were being separated from the group, taken down a separate corridor and Lorne joined the struggle, desperate to get free. It did him and the others no good, Elizabeth and Teyla were eventually dragged out of sight and the rest of them were taken in the opposite direction, eventually being shoved into a cell and left alone.

* * *

His entire body hurt, not that he would let it show more than he had to. His arms were chained above his head, his shirt discarded on the floor and his body covered in cuts, bruises and blood. Kolya was nowhere near finished yet either, months of anger coming to the surface all at once and Ronon didn't doubt for a second that even when the Vernai commander was finished with him today, he'd still want more later.

"You have no idea," Kolya spat out before once again landing his fist into Ronon's stomach. "How hard I had to work to earn back the Admiral's trust."

Another punch to the stomach, a couple to the face as Kolya continued to tell him of how Ronon's escape with the electus had damaged Kolya's life. Kolya finally stopped for a moment, breathing heavily and wiping blood from his knuckles before picking up the taser that seemed to have become a favourite in their little session. He jammed it hard into Ronon's rib cage, electricity going through him painfully and Ronon bit his lip against the pain, drawing blood.

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" Kolya said, discarding the taser in favour of his fists again. "Did you really think you could take the electus right out from under my nose and not pay for it?"

Another hit, then another and another, breathing hurt, moving hurt, any attempt to talk hurt and if it didn't Kolya would quickly shut him up.

"And as for your pretty little girlfriend," Kolya began and despite the fact that he could barely think Ronon was suddenly on high alert, desperate to force himself free of the chains that were binding his arms so he could wrap his hands around Kolya's neck and strangle the life from him. "She'll suffer too, the way you were too soft to make her suffer, the way she should have suffered before, only now, it'll be so much worse. Both of them, I'll have both of the electus, bloody and afraid, begging for me to kill them. I'll bed them and hurt them and when I'm done, my crew can have them."

Ronon tried to get his hands loose, used every bit of strength he had in him because just the thought of this man laying a hand on Teyla, or even Elizabeth, was enough reason for Ronon to murder him, even if he killed himself in the process. Kolya laughed as his attempt to get free failed and continued to bait him and despite himself, Ronon fell for it.

"Tell me Dex," Kolya began, getting closer than would usually be safe. "How good is she?"

He stepped back before Ronon could react, fighting and struggling against the chains, desperate to get loose, desperate to kill his captor. "I'll kill you," Ronon spat, the words costing him more energy than they should have.

"No you won't," Kolya smirked. "Because you can barely stand and a week from now I'll be handing you over to the admiral, you won't even know your name by then."

* * *

Teyla heard the sound of the door unlocking, their cell being opened to once again allow Kolya in with his two armed guards. Teyla looked at them both, recognising neither before her eyes settled on Kolya. "Are you ready to co-operate?"

"Whatever it is you want you can forget it, I'll never work for the Vernai," Elizabeth told him and Kolya stepped forward, backhanding her across the face.

"Wrong answer," he said stepping back again. "I'm rapidly losing my patience with the two of you."

"Doesn't change the answer," Teyla told him and Kolya turned hateful eyes on her.

"Then perhaps pain will," he stated. "The two of you will work for me whether you like it or not, you'll both do whatever I want you to when I want you to. If I have to condition you to behave then so be it."

"I know you Kolya," Teyla told him. "And I'll never work for you, I'll never do anything for you, I'd rather be dead."

Kolya laughed a harsh sound that gave Teyla chills. "You think death is the worst I can do to you. You'll be begging for death, it'll seem like the kindest possible fate when I'm done with the two of you. You'll beg and you'll plead and I still won't kill you, in the end you'll do absolutely anything for me, just to make me stop. You should never have gone against me Emmagan, nobody crosses me, nobody gets away with it."

"Take them both to interrogation," Kolya order the two guards. "It's time they learned to be obedient."

Teyla and Elizabeth were both dragged from the room, forced along the corridor despite their protests and struggles. The room they were dragged into was already bloody; some of the blood looking fresh and Teyla knew it had to have come from one of the others, her mind already coming to the logical conclusion that it was Ronon's blood. He'd betrayed the Vernai, left Kolya to explain to the Admiral that he had lost the electus, she'd seen the hate Kolya had for her and more so for Ronon.

Teyla's hands were chained above her head; Elizabeth's too, the woman a few feet from her. The chains were adjusted, lifted so that Teyla could barely touch the floor; it would be harder to fight back this way.

"Never saw this part of Dex's ship did you?" Kolya questioned. "He had a room just like this. He was supposed to bring you in here if you proved to be difficult."

He was trying to get to her, she knew that but the idea that Ronon would have done this to her, that he'd done this to others planted itself in her mind. She forced it away, she could deal with it another time, would ask Ronon about it if they ever managed to get out of here. The last thing she needed right now was a reason to doubt him, it was doubt that had allowed the Vernai to get to her before, she wouldn't allow Kolya to do the same.

"Do you know how hard you made things for me?" he continued, Teyla didn't answer; instead she felt his fist collide with her stomach.

* * *

John looked down at Dex, Carson was doing his best to take care of him but with no supplies there was really nothing the doctor could do. The former Vernai commander had been literally dragged back into the cell and dropped on the floor, unable to move, unable to speak and Kolya had promised to be back for him later. He was doing better now; a few hours of sleep had given him some of his energy back. They had no idea where Elizabeth and Teyla were, Ronon had told them he was going to kill Kolya for what he planned to do to them but he'd spared them the details, John just hoped they got out of here soon.

"What do we do?" Laura questioned as she leaned against the wall next to him.

"I don't know, the only way out of this cell is through the heavy steal, locked door which only gets opened when there's half a dozen armed guards on the other side of it," John stated with a glance at the door. "And now we have Dex who can barely move."

"Yeah, Kolya did a number on him, I actually feel bad for him," Laura replied, looking over at where Dex was on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall, his eyes closed. "And to his credit, he hasn't complained once about being in pain, just stated repeatedly that he wants to kill Kolya. I can really relate to that."

"I'm not sure I see a way out of this one," John admitted, wondering now if his decision to surrender had been the right one. Even if by some miracle they managed to get out of the cell, they still had to make it back to the Venture and even then, they still had to get away from the command ship, it seemed impossible.

"Stop that," Laura said and he looked at her with a frown. "Blaming yourself, you made the right decision, we'd be dead now if we hadn't surrendered, at least this way we have a chance, even if it's not much of one."

John was about to respond when they heard gunshots outside the cell. The door opened a moment later and John stepped forward, ready for a fight but relaxing when he saw who it was. "Bates?" he questioned in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was transferred to Kolya's command when he was sent after the electus," Bates replied. "I haven't had chance to inform the alliance yet but I'd expect you to be happier to see me Sheppard."

"Wait," Ronon grunted from the floor. "You're alliance?"

"Yeah," Bates said, looking down at Dex with anger and disgust.

"You're good," Dex stated. "Never even suspected."

"How about we stop standing around and get out of here?" Rodney suggested. Lorne and Carson helped get Ronon to his feet, the two of them helping him to follow the others out of the cell. Bates handed them all weapons as they walked along the corridor.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**Authors Note: Another delayed chapter, I know, I'm mean. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me through my inconsistent updating. Special thanks to Mrs Rosemary Weir, belanna30, Jammeke, Steph7085, kuroima and Shadowhunter536 for your reviews on the last chapter. **

Chapter 23

They made their way along the corridor, John gripping his weapon tightly in his hand, the feel of it giving him a small comfort. It wasn't much but he would take what he could get in the situation. Ronon was barely able to stand and it looked like it was taking him a considerable effort just to stay conscious while Marcus and Carson dragged him through the command ship. They ran into a couple of surprised soldiers, who didn't even have time to reach for their weapons before they were taken out.

"We've planted a virus in the ship's computer, it's taken out security camera's, internal and external sensors, and weapons should be down for a while too," Bates explained and John was about to ask who 'we' was but figured it was another spy among the ranks here and let it drop, they didn't have time for unnecessary questions. "The electus are being held in another cell not far from here. Your ship is down that way."

"Alright," John began recognising where they were from when they'd been brought on board. He looked at the others, assessing the situation as quickly as he could. "Lorne and I will go get Elizabeth and Teyla, the rest of you get back to the ship, if we're not there in fifteen minutes, leave without us and get a message to Alliance command."

There were nods of agreement, Rodney taking over Lorne's place helping Ronon and the group split, Bates leading the way to the girls. They were forced to shoot a couple of Kolya's men who rounded a corner at the wrong time but otherwise they made it to the girl's cell without incident. John's heart almost stopped when he saw them, both sat on the floor, beaten and bloody, not nearly as bad as Ronon... yet.

"John," Elizabeth breathed, confused and relieved.

"I'll explain later, let's go," he said, grabbing Elizabeth's arm to pull her up from the floor, forcing himself to ignore the hiss of pain she gave in response. Lorne helped Teyla up, the two girl's moving on their own after that. They left the cell, Bates leading the way back toward the Venture, the five of them moving quietly enough that they heard voices coming their way long before they saw the two Vernai round the corner.

"The security camera's and sensors are down, Kolya wants us to check all the prisoners, starting with the electus," John heard one of them say. They looked completely shocked to see the prisoners out of their cells, their eyes darting quickly between the freed prisoners and the Alliance spy. John killed one instantly, Bates killing the other, if they didn't Bates cover would be blown. They got back to where they had split from the others before Bates stopped and turned to them.

"This is as far as I can go, good luck Sheppard," he said and John shook his hand.

"Don't wanna come with us?" he questioned.

"My job is here, now go before they realise you're missing," Bates told him and John nodded. It was a short journey from there to where the Venture was docked, there were two dead guards outside the airlock, most likely courtesy of Laura and John stepped over them, going through the air lock and allowing the others to pass him onto the ship before sealing the doors behind them.

Lorne hit the comm. on the wall. "We're onboard, get us out of here."

"Happy to," Laura's voice replied and the hum of the engines went through the ship. John ran to the bridge, where Laura was navigating the ship away from the Vernai vessel. Rodney was at sensors, watching the sensors console like a predator studying his prey. John dropped into the chair by weapons control, just in case they were needed as Rodney informed them that the Vernai ship was making no move to pursue. The ship went into hyper space and they all continued to hold their breath for several moments, the Vernai didn't follow, they were away.

"We're not out of danger yet, stay here, keep an eye on sensors, if there's anything there that shouldn't be I want to know about it," John ordered and Laura nodded her head, he turned his intention to Elizabeth and Teyla who both looked ready to collapse. "You two to the infirmary."

He got no argument from either, instead they both wordlessly left the bridge and headed to where they'd been told. Carson was fussing around Ronon, the man already laid down on one of the beds being the most still and quiet John had ever seen him. Teyla's eyes widened and she hurried over to him, her eyes taking in his rather extensive injuries.

"Are you alright?" he asked her and after a moment Teyla laughed.

"In comparison to you, I'm fine," she stated and Ronon seemed to relax some.

"Both of you take a seat, I'll be right with you," he told the two girls. Elizabeth immediately hopped up onto one of the beds, wincing at the action and John wondered how bad the injuries that he couldn't see were. This was the second time on this mission that she'd been kidnapped and tortured, she was barely healed from the first time.

"You know, that vacation you promised me is looking better and better," Elizabeth said as he moved to stand in front of her, his hands on the bed on either side of her. He did his first proper inspection of her since finding her in the cells, she had a cut above her eye, a deep one by the looks of it, Carson would probably want to stitch it up. There was bruising along her jaw line, more of it on her neck which disappeared beneath her shirt.

"How bad?" he asked her, his eyes meeting hers and she gestured with her head over to Ronon.

"Not nearly that bad," she replied and he held her gaze, wanting more explanation. Carson was busy with Ronon, he needed answers now. "I'm sore, probably will be for a while but I'm fine."

He put his arms around her, pulling her to him and she went willingly, leaning into him and wrapping only one arm around his neck, something he took note of. When he'd been partnered with her almost a year ago he'd been given not only the job of training her and working with her, but protecting her as well, he seemed to be failing miserably at that. He knew they were being watched, could sense the eyes on them but he couldn't find it in himself to care, he just held her tighter.

* * *

Marcus winced as he watched Teyla reach into one of the cupboards in the kitchen. She had to stand on her toes and reach her arm above her head and he could see the pain creasing her features as she tried to reach for the food on the top shelf. He took pity on her; he knew Kolya had done a number on her and Elizabeth though not quite to the extent he had to Dex.

"I'll get it," he offered and she stepped back allowing him to pass her the things she'd been reaching for.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"It's fine," he replied, not wanting to make a big deal out of it so he shrugged and went back to his sandwich at the table. Dex was still in the infirmary and Teyla had spent most of her time there, leaving only to sleep, change her clothes, grab food or get something for Dex. The former Vernai commander had been more than co-operative for his first day in the infirmary but according to Carson he had since made his displeasure at being stuck there known, he only seemed to calm down, even it if was only a little, when Teyla was around.

Teyla and Elizabeth, were battered and bruised, the two of them moving around the ship slowly and stiffly, Marcus felt sympathy pains every time he saw one of them wince. He was glad to have been spared the details of their injuries, though he could guess from what he'd seen of Dex. John hadn't been so fortunate, his relationship with Elizabeth meant he knew far more about their injuries and he'd been walking around with a little black rain cloud over his head for the last few days.

Rodney had secluded himself in his lab, working on his various side projects that he used to distract himself. This was more than the scientist had signed on for when he'd joined the alliance and to his credit he hadn't complained once since the Vernai had taken them, he'd done nothing but help right up until they'd escaped and since then he'd kept mostly to himself. Marcus made a mental note to check in on him later.

Laura came into the room, dropping into a chair at the table with a heavy sigh. "If John snaps at me one more time, I might kill him. The only reason I haven't so far is because it might upset Elizabeth and she's been through enough. I'm starting to think I'd be doing her a favour."

"Given everything that's happened I'm not surprised he's a little on edge, just give him some space for a while, I'm sure Elizabeth will take care of it at some point," Marcus told her and Laura huffed as she sat back in her chair.

"I get that it can't be easy for him, he's taking all the responsibility on his own shoulders but I only have so much patience and he's currently reaching its limit," she replied. "I'm going to the gym, I think I need to hit something for a while."

Laura stood up again and left, Marcus watching her go with a smirk.

* * *

John left the bridge after having made a few adjustments to their course. At the moment they were just flying around, keeping on the move while Elizabeth and Teyla recovered, neither of them were in any condition to fight the Shadows so for now there was nothing they could do. He knew if they got anywhere near a shadow they'd want to destroy it, they wouldn't be able to sit by while it killed but while they were still so severely injured the shadow would be more likely to destroy them .The council weren't happy about it but after a long argument he'd made them understand that fighting the shadows now would do more harm than good.

He went to his room, he dropped his jacket on the chair in the corner trying not to wake Elizabeth who was curled up on the bed. It was unusual for her to sleep during the day, she was always awake early and in bed late, didn't want to waste the day, she'd say. He sat down next to her, brushing hair away from her face. Her injuries were still bothering her, more than either of them would like and he wished he could take them all on himself. It was his fault she was hurt, it was his job to protect her and somehow he kept failing her.

Elizabeth moved, he saw pain crease her features momentarily, even in her sleep. She settled again though and he traced his fingers along her jaw, following the bruise down her neck and onto her collar bone as though his fingers could erase it.

"It's not your fault," a quiet voice whispered and he looked back at Elizabeth's face to see her watching him. "You couldn't have prevented it."

"Then I'm not doing my job," John replied, removing his hand from her.

Elizabeth sat up, wincing as she did so which did nothing to help his guilt. "You've been given the damn near impossible to do and considering we're all still here in more or less one piece, I'd say you're doing pretty well. We're almost half way through destroying the shadows; we've saved a lot of lives. You can't take all the responsibility on yourself John, you're just one person."

"But you're my partner, you're more than my partner, I should at least be able to protect you and so far I haven't done a great job of that," John stated and Elizabeth gave him a half smile, leaning forward to kiss him.

"Considering who I am and how often I get in trouble, I don't think you do too badly, I'm still here aren't I?" Elizabeth pointed out. "Besides, bruises heal, I'll be fine."

John nodded, not entirely convinced.

"Now, do you think you could stop wondering around this ship in a bad mood because I'm pretty sure Laura is ready to hit you?" Elizabeth questioned and John smiled, shaking his head.

"You should get some more rest," he told her.

"So should you," Elizabeth replied. "Make you a deal; I'll rest if you rest?"

John had to think about it for a moment, there were things that needed doing, files and reports that needed to be read through. It could all wait until later though, they weren't going to be getting anywhere near the Shadows in the next few days, they had time. He laid down next to her on the bed, pulled her back against his chest without hurting her and keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, he fell asleep.

* * *

Carson was actually glad to release Dex from the infirmary. The man had done nothing but complain and try to escape from the moment he'd been able to drag his battered body from the bed. For the first couple of days he'd made it no further than the door before collapsing and being dragged back to the bed when Carson or Teyla found him. He'd started to get a little further after that but had still been in no condition to get released, someone would bring him back eventually.

He was well on his way to recovery though and Carson watched as Teyla helped him walk out of the infirmary, with strict orders to go straight to his own bed. He sighed as he lifted himself onto one of the beds, dropping the file from Teyla and Elizabeth's most recent blood tests next to him.

"Did he escape again or did you let him go?" Laura questioned as she walked in and Carson smiled, standing back up.

"I let him go, a few more days of rest and he should be up and about again," he told her and she nodded.

"That's good," she replied standing in front of him. "How about Elizabeth and Teyla, how are they doing?"

"Recovering, though it'll be another week before I think they'll be up to battling any shadows," Carson stated and Laura bit her lip.

"I was with John on the bridge earlier, he was arguing with the council about it. They're getting impatient; they want Elizabeth and Teyla back to fighting the shadows. Apparently one of them just killed 14 people in one attack," Laura explained shaking her head. "John's managed to get them to back off again for now but another big attack like that and I think they'll order him to put Elizabeth and Teyla back in the fight."

"Don't they understand they'll only be hurting their cause if they force them back into the fight before they're ready?" Carson questioned angrily. "They have no idea the kind of toll fighting these Shadows has on them, it takes everything they've got every time and if they're not fully fit then he chances are the Shadow will kill them or the toll of destroying it will kill them. They can't destroy the rest of the Shadows if they're dead and who will stop them then?"

"It's not me who needs to convincing," Laura replied. "You know as much as I was ready to hit John a couple of days ago I'm starting to understand why he's been in such a bad mood. He's taking all the responsibility on himself and on top of that he'd taking all the flack from the council so that the rest of us don't have to."

"We're almost halfway through the Shadows now, let's just hope for all our sakes that this is over with soon," Carson said, wrapping his arms around his wife and pulling her to him.

* * *

"Sir, we've discovered the source of the virus, it entered the system through a control panel on the bridge," his second in command told him. Dobson was good at his job, knew Kolya's moods pretty well, he'd lasted longer in the position than anyone else had. Kolya glared at him, waiting for more explanation, he wanted a name. "Tyler was working at that console at the time. It was tricky to track down, he covered his tracks well but there's no doubt the computer virus originated there."

"Damn Alliance Spies," Kolya cursed. He'd had them, all of them. The Electus, the traitor, a bunch of Alliance Agents, they'd all been in his cells, on their way to the meet with the Admiral. He would have been praised, he'd have become the Admiral's right hand, nothing would have been able to stop him. Instead someone on his own crew had betrayed him and he had once again been forced to tell the Admiral he had lost the Electus.

He was lucky to still be standing there, the admiral had been furious and Kolya knew without a doubt he was quickly heading for his last chance.

"We have already arrested him, would you like us to bring him in?" Dobson questioned and Kolya nodded. A few moments later Tyler was dragged into the room, glaring at Kolya with a hatred that confirmed he was a spy for the Alliance.

"Who else aboard this ship works for the Alliance?" Kolya asked him.

"I have no idea, we're not told the identities of the other spies," Tyler replied.

"You can't have done this alone, I know for a fact you were on the bridge when the prisoners escaped which means someone else let them out of the cells, someone else was in on your plan. Who helped you?" Kolya asked angrily and Tyler spit on him. "Take him for interrogation, I'll be along shortly," Kolya ordered his men; he was going to enjoy every second of this.

"I'll die before I tell you anything," Tyler informed him.

"No," Kolya replied with a smirk. "You'll be begging me to die, but you'll talk long before I kill you."

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**Authors Note: Next chapter is here, thanks to everyone for their patience and extra thanks to everyone who has reviewed. **

Chapter 24

Rodney walked into the kitchen; it was the middle of the night so he was surprised to find half the crew were there, only Carson and Laura were absent. He knew Carson had been working almost none stop to go through medical files and test results that the Alliance had sent him. Rodney had tried to tell him that the chances were there was nothing useful in the whole mountain of data he'd received, but the good doctor had insisted that it didn't he mean he shouldn't get through it as fast as he could. Rodney shared the sentiment, he really did, but he didn't see the need to deprive himself of sleep for something that probably wasn't there, especially not after lecturing the rest of them for years on not working themselves into the ground. Laura had either convinced him to sleep or was in the medical lab with him, still trying to convince him.

"Why is everybody up?" Rodney questioned, the rest of the room only just noticing his presence.

"Couldn't sleep," Marcus raised his hand.

"About to go to sleep," John and Elizabeth raised theirs.

"Do you even care?" Dex questioned raising his and glancing at Teyla.

"No, not really," Rodney replied as he walked over to the counter and grabbed an apple. "Just surprised to see you all awake."

"Well, you can feel slightly less surprised because I'm going now," Elizabeth said as she stood up. She was still moving rather stiffly, as were Teyla and Dex; none of them were healed yet from the beatings Kolya had given them. "If I don't go to bed, I'm going to fall asleep right here. Goodnight everyone."

"I'm right behind you," John called after her to which Elizabeth just waved her arm back at him as she disappeared down the corridor to their sleeping quarters. "Rodney, we're making a stop on Liasbon tomorrow, just a couple of hours but if you need anything you'll have chance to get it."

"Why are we making a stop?" he questioned.

"Because Kolya's men took most of our supplies and unless you want to be living on rations, in which case you may want to save that apple for your breakfast tomorrow, then we need to make a stop. Besides Elizabeth and Teyla aren't in any condition to be fighting shadows, no offence," he said with a nod in Teyla's direction. "So now is probably the best time to stop."

"That's fair," Rodney shrugged, taking another bite out of his apple and leaving the bridge.

* * *

Their stay on Liasbon really had been short. Shepherd had given them only an hour to go and get whatever they needed from the market. He and Elizabeth had taken care of getting the ship's essential supplies while everyone else had been mostly doing personal shopping. Cadman had returned with several new guns, McKay with some weird looking device he claimed would be very useful to him. Lorne and Beckett had come back with several boxes of random things in addition to the medical supplies.

Teyla and Ronon had mostly just wondered the market, enjoying their freedom which was still new and relatively unused at this point. They were all back to the ship more or less on time and helped with loading up the supplies, less than two hours after they landed they were back in space again. John told them that a couple of Vernai ships had been close by and so he hadn't wanted them to be there for long and risk getting caught.

Teyla was in her room, going through her few purchases, just some clothes she'd been in need of and a couple of books she'd found. They were the same ones Ronon had gotten for her when she'd been in his custody, ones she hadn't had the chance to read before they'd been forced to make a run for it.

There was a knock on her door and she knew instantly who it was. She'd learned to decipher who was on the other side of her door just from the sound of their knock. Elizabeth's and Shepherd's were all business, a simple two knocks but she could tell them apart by the heaviness of the knock. Lorne banged on the door a few times; Cadman would knock quickly, both of them shouting through whatever they wanted before leaving. Beckett almost had a rhythm to his knock and McKay would knock, get inpatient and knock again.

Ronon would knock three times, his knock heavier than everyone's expect Lorne's since the alliance Agent, she was pretty sure, banged on the door with the side of his fist. She called for Ronon to come in, smiling slightly to herself when saw she had guessed correctly before going back to folding her clothes away.

"You are bored," she stated.

"Very," he replied with a sigh as he dropped down on the bed behind her messing up some of the clothes she had folded there neatly. She sent him a reproachful glare and he had the good grace to look apologetic though he made no move to put the stuff back.

"It would be nice to go to the gym, I feel the urge for sparring but neither of us is in good condition for that at the moment," she told him, refolding the clothes he had knocked and putting them away before he could make a mess of them again. She put the books away, leaving one on her bed for her to read later and sat down next to him.

Ronon looked her over and she was aware that the signs of Kolya's beating were still very much present on her, as they were him. "It's my fault he did that to you."

She'd known he was harbouring some guilt over that, she'd just wondered how long it would take him to say something, if he said anything at all. In many ways he was still the man she had first met, the proud and stoic commander, refusing to allow himself to show feelings, to show weakness. She thought of herself then, they way she was now and realised just how much of him had rubbed off on her. She had gone from an open book, a happy and naive young woman and a free spirit to a very guarded, at times angry woman.

"It is not," she replied shaking her head slightly.

"He did this to get at me, to punish me," he told her.

"He did this because he wanted to hurt me, hurting you may have been a part of it but inside that room, he only wanted to make me pay for getting away. Elizabeth has nothing to do with you, if his reasons were about you he would not have beaten her too. He was angry, angry at how losing one Electus on Corlain and then another aboard your ship had affected his life and his standing," she explained, knowing that he already knew all of this but also knowing he needed to hear it. "I know you are not yet convinced but at least believe that I do not blame you."

"That much I believe," Ronon told her with a small smile.

* * *

Everyone had gathered around the table in the kitchen on John's orders though their fearless leader hadn't arrived yet. Marcus glanced toward the door that led to the bridge, the last he had seen of John he was on hold with the council after having already spent half an hour arguing with them. He'd told Marcus to get everyone together and he'd done it without question, whatever the council wanted he would find out soon enough.

"I'm hungry," Rodney complained.

"You're always hungry," Laura shot back. "Go and get some fruit or something while we're waiting."

"Too late," Carson stated and everyone looked around to where John was walking the door, looking tired and frustrated.

"We're to continue with the mission," he told them and there were protests around the table immediately.

"They can't be serious," Carson said once the noise level had decreased again. "Elizabeth and Teyla are in no fit state to be battling with Shadows, their bodies are still recovering from the beatings Kolya gave them, not to mention the Shadow they destroyed not long before that and Elizabeth still hasn't fully recovered from her previous kidnapping. Dex still isn't able to move around without trying to hide a wince and Laura isn't even a hundred percent from her run in with a shadow. We'll be going in at half strength."

"I've told them all of that Carson," John held his hand up to forestall anymore protests. "And more, repeatedly. They've made it a direct order and they're sticking by it, we all knew this was probably going to happen. It's been almost two weeks since we escaped from Kolya and they've deemed that more than enough time. Under normal circumstances we'd all have been back to work within a few days."

"But this isn't normal circumstances, we're battling shadows here not a legion of Vernai soldiers," Lorne cut in.

"They're aware of that Marcus, the order remains the same," John told them. "It's not just come out of nowhere. There were two shadow attacks yesterday on separate planets, one killed seventeen people at a market and the other... the other was an attack on a school and I don't think you need any more details than that."

There was silence around the table as everyone let that sink in. Marcus forced back images of children playing in the school yard, the shadow coming from nowhere. He glanced at Elizabeth, he didn't want to imagine the kind of guilt she as piling on herself now. He saw John looking at her as well and knew that he'd talk with her later, for whatever difference it would make.

"Then let's get back to it," Elizabeth stated with renewed determination that Lorne was pretty sure came partially from the guilt.

"I've already set a course for Taldis, its five days away so we still have plenty of time," he told them. "I suggest everyone rests up while they can."

* * *

Teyla was wondering the ship, trying to clear her head when she found Elizabeth on the bridge. She was leaning back in the chair at sensors, her eyes fixed on the window where the light and colours from hyperspace were shooting by.

"I come up here to think," Elizabeth stated without taking her eyes off the window and Teyla hesitated for a moment before sitting in the pilot's seat beside her. The controls in front of her were unfamiliar and she realised she'd never piloted a ship, not even the little shuttles she and Ronon had used with the Vernai, she wondered if Elizabeth knew how to do it.

"You are thinking of the people that died," Teyla said and Elizabeth nodded though it had not been a question. "There was nothing anyone could do for them, had we fought we would likely have failed."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Elizabeth replied.

"No it does not but you should not carry the guilt of their deaths around with you, it could not have been prevented," Teyla stated and Elizabeth finally turned to look at her, anger in her eyes.

"That something the Vernai taught you, how to disregard human lives?" she questioned, it was the first time either of them had confronted the different paths they had taken after Corlain. They'd danced around each other, been civil because it was necessary but the neither had mentioned the underlying anger between them.

"And I suppose the Alliance taught you the same thing," Teyla responded.

"And yet I'm sitting here feeling guilty about the lives that were lost while you rationalise them away," Elizabeth stated.

"And you left me to die, you left me in the hands of the people that did this to us," Teyla replied angrily, gesturing the cuts and bruises that still covered them both. "Kolya tried to get custody of me; he did get it at one point that was why Ronon and I had to leave. I did what I had to; I became what was necessary for me to survive because you left me there."

"I didn't even know you were alive never mind where you were, if I'd known I would have come for you," Elizabeth told her fiercely. "I am sorry that you ended up with the Vernai and I'm sorry for any suffering you had to endure with them but I can't condone any of what you did. You killed innocent people Teyla, men, women... children. Then when you went on your merry way I had to go and pull survivors out of the rubble, I had to comfort children who had lost their parents and parents who had lost their children. I had to walk passed the charred remains of someone's little boy or girl. Don't come in here telling me that I can't save everyone, I'm well aware of that, far more aware of it than you are."

"What's going on up here?" Shepherd's voice came from the door and they both turned to see him standing there.

"Something that's been coming for a long time," Elizabeth said and Teyla sighed, she had not come up here to fight.

"I do regret the things I did with the Vernai," she admitted, the first time she had said it out loud, maybe the first time she had truly admitted it to herself. "I can't change it; I can't bring the people back that I killed."

Elizabeth stared at her for a long moment before leaving the bridge without a word. Shepherd glanced at Teyla and then left the bridge as well.

* * *

"You couldn't have saved those people Elizabeth," John said as he followed Elizabeth into the bedroom and she turned an angry glare on him.

"I know that," she replied. "Don't expect me not to feel guilty about it, I'm supposed to stop these things, that makes it partially my responsibility that they're still out there killing people."

"I'm not asking you not to feel guilty about it, I just want you to go a little easier on yourself, to stop carrying the burden on your own," John stated. "It's not just your job to stop the Shadows, we were all sent on the same mission, you just happen to be the one with the power."

"You're one to talk, don't carry the burden yourself?" she questioned. "That's all you've been doing since we were first sent to stop the Cloud. You take the flack from local police, you keep yourself in between the crew and the council and you take every failure we have to heart, blame yourself for more things than I do."

"Whoa," John said, holding his hands up defensively. "Don't turn on me, I'm trying to help."

Elizabeth sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she dropped on the edge of the bed, head in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm not even mad at you."

"I know," John soothed as he sat down next to her.

"I shouldn't have even blown up at Teyla like that, it was something of nothing," she said shaking her head at herself.

"It's been coming for a while, you've both got issues that you've kept to yourself for a long time and with all the added stress we've had over this mission it was bound to come out with a bang, it could have been a lot worse," John replied, running the palm of his hand up and down her back.

"It would have been worse if you hadn't interrupted," she stated, taking another deep breath.

"Then let's be glad I interrupted," he said. "I think we both need some sleep."

Elizabeth nodded. "I think I have to agree."

* * *

Laura loaded the data from the alliance communication onto a data pad. It was all for Rodney and she debated for a moment whether to take it to him or leave it in the kitchen until he found it, knowing him it wouldn't take long. She opted to do the nice thing and take it to his lab; he'd been there for the better part of the day anyway. She passed through the kitchen where Elizabeth, Marcus and Teyla were eating. She'd heard the argument between the two electus yesterday but whatever it was about seemed to have been resolved or put to one side for the time being.

Rodney was exactly where she expected him, wearing protective glasses and leaning over some weird looking device that was sparking at him every time he poked it. She coughed to announce her presence, enjoying the fact that she made him jump but more or less keeping a straight face.

"What are you doing in here?" he questioned slightly breathlessly. "Don't you have guns to clean or something?"

"I do," she told him. "But this came for you and I thought I'd bring it down here. If you don't want it though I can just take it with me."

"No," Rodney said quickly and took the data pad from her outstretched hand, immediately reading through the contents. She stood there for almost a minute, looking at him expectantly and waiting for him to look up. He finally noticed she was still there and gave her an impatient glare. "What?"

"You know manners don't cost anything," she stated and he sighed.

"Thank you, very much, now can you go," he ushered her out the door and feeling better now that she'd successfully irritated him she left in search of her husband. He was, as she'd expected, in the medical lab running some tests and she rolled her eyes as she walked in.

"I thought you were going to take a decently long lunch break today?" she questioned knowing he'd already been out of here for lunch but he couldn't have been gone more than twenty minutes.

"I just want to get these finished," Carson told her. "The alliance will probably be sending me a bunch of files from the two recent big attacks and I'd like all of these out of the way before then."

"You're going to work yourself into the ground," Laura told him wondering when exactly the dynamics of their relationship had been reversed. "You have to rest, I'd handcuff you to the bed but I'd enjoy that too much."

She had at least managed to make him smile. "A couple more hours then these will be done, I'll take the rest of the day off."

"You'd better, I kinda miss having a conversation with you that doesn't involve me telling you to rest," she replied and held up a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, I know, you have to tell me that all the time but at least I then actually go and rest. It might not stick long but at least with me it lasts more than an hour."

"A couple more hours, then I promise," he told her and she kissed him quickly.

"You'd better," she replied as she left.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

**Authors Note: A shorter chapter here but I wanted to get something posted. I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for the reviews. **

Chapter 25

Elizabeth could feel John's eyes on her even before she opened her own, she remained still for a while, waiting to see how long it would take him to stop but got bored after the first few minutes. "I cannot be that interesting," she smiled and finally opened her eyes to find him laid down next to her in the bed, a small smirk on his face.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to say something," he stated.

"I was waiting to see how long you would keep staring at me for," she replied "You knew I was awake?"

"Yeah, you're breathing changed," he said and she smiled again and shook her head, stretching out in the bed before turning onto her side to face him.

"How long have you been awake?" she questioned and he shrugged.

"About twenty minutes," he replied and she glanced passed him to the small alarm clock beside the bed which told her it was heading on for 10am, she never usually slept in this long.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked as she started to sit up. She had reports that needed to be looked through from the various planets that were still reporting shadow attacks. John grabbed her arm and pulled her back down so was once again lying next to him and she sent him a mild glare for it. "We have things to do."

"We don't arrive at Taldis for another three days, that's plenty of time to get everything done, we don't need to jump out of bed at the crack of dawn every morning, we're in space, we don't even get dawn," John told her and Elizabeth looked at him for a moment before sighing and curling into his side, her head on his chest.

"Fine, I'll give you ten minutes," she replied and John laughed.

"If that's all I can get out of you then I guess I'll take it," he stated and Elizabeth looked up at him, her chin still resting on his chest.

"Fifteen minutes?" she said feeling slightly guilty even though she knew she had no reason to be. The mission kept them both busy and they'd agreed when they started this relationship that it wouldn't get in the way of work, that their duty had to come first. John ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead as she settled back against his chest.

"It's quiet," Elizabeth said.

"Might have something to do with the almost sound proof walls," John replied and Elizabeth laughed.

"Yeah but we can still usually here someone arguing out there even through the almost sound proof walls," she stated and felt John shrug.

"Everyone seems to be getting along better, even with Dex and Teyla," John told her.

"Well so far they haven't done anything wrong since we brought them on board, they've followed orders, mostly kept to themselves, Teyla's helped destroy three of the shadows without complaint or hesitation despite what it does to us, the risk to us," Elizabeth summed up. It had only been a couple of days since their confrontation on the bridge and there were still too many unresolved issues between them to count. She had to admit though that Teyla had done very little wrong since coming aboard the Venture. "I suppose they've given us no reason not to trust them as far as this mission is concerned."

"What do you think they'll do after this mission?" John asked her and Elizabeth shook her head slightly.

"I have no idea, I doubt they'll go back to the Vernai, hell the Vernai would probably kill them given the chance now but they still don't have much love for the Alliance so maybe they'll just find themselves somewhere quiet to live out the rest of their days," Elizabeth suggested knowing it was unlikely.

"You think Dex is the type to settle down somewhere quiet and spend his days chopping wood for the fire?" John questioned incredulously and Elizabeth laughed at the mental image.

"Maybe not," she replied. "Who knows what they'll do."

"Hopefully something that won't land them back in their jail cells because I'm sure the council are just looking for a reason to put them away when this is all over, they weren't happy about letting them out in the first place," John said and she looked up at him again.

"I'm sure they have enough sense to stay off their radar," Elizabeth stated and John shrugged again and smiled.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," he replied leaning down to kiss her, once, twice, three times and she pushed herself up so she could kiss him properly, his hand going to the back of her neck and his fingers threading through her hair. Her hands found the hem of his t-shirt and she pushed them underneath hearing him groan at the contact before flipping them over, the weight of his body pushing hers down into the bed as he continued to kiss her.

"I thought I was only getting fifteen minutes," he mumbled against her lips.

"You got an extension."

* * *

"That was one time," Lorne protested as he input the alternate route to Taldis to avoid the Vernai cruiser they'd been warned was in the area. The last thing they needed right now was to run into the Vernai again. The ship board computer accepted the changes and immediately altered their route, it would take another day to reach Taldis but it kept them away from the Vernai who could easily delay them by a lot longer than that.

"Actually it was three times," Laure replied, leaning back in the chair by the sensor console with a smug grin on her face.

"You're counting?" Lorne questioned incredulously.

"Of course I'm counting, I save up any information that I can use to torment you with," Laura told him, smile widening. "And you epically embarrassing yourself in front of women when you're drunk is definitely information worth saving."

"Remind me why I put up with you," Lorne said as he turned his chair to glare at her.

"Because life would be boring without me, and probably much shorter, you'd be dead by now if I weren't around," Laura responded with a shrug and as much as Lorne wanted to protest that statement he knew it was probably true.

"You'd be dead without me too you know," he said almost sulkily.

"I know, but we were talking about why you put up with me not the other way around," Laura told him as Rodney and Carson walked onto the bridge.

"There you are love, I was looking for you," Carson said as he spotted the two of them.

"You found me," Laura declared cheerfully throwing her arms up in the air as if to prove the point. Somewhere over the last few days the atmosphere on ship had shifted, a lot of the tension from the previous weeks were gone and Lorne didn't even feel the need to fight with Dex and Teyla which up until recently had been a necessity in his daily routine. Even Elizabeth seemed to be a little more relaxed now that all the constant fighting on the ship had ceased, it probably helped that three of the shadows were destroyed; they were almost half way through this insane mission. Laura had mellowed out considerably now that she was back to her former fitness level; she'd hated not being at a hundred percent after her run in with the shadows.

"I was about to make dinner and I figured I'd take a vote on what everyone wants," Carson told them and quickly laid out the choices.

"You shouldn't have to always be the one that cooks Carson," Lorne stated feeling bad that the doctor seemed to have taken the responsibility solely on himself with Elizabeth as the occasional assistant.

"I'm hardly going to let any of you do it," Carson replied. "None of us would survive, besides, I really don't mind, I enjoy it."

Laura and Lorne both gave their votes, the doctor turned chef disappeared from the bridge again to get everyone else's votes.

"You changed our course," Rodney exclaimed from beside him where he was leaning over the console. "It's going to take us another day to get there, why would you take a longer route?"

"Because there's a Vernai cruiser in the way on our previous course so unless you want to run into them I suggest you leave it," Lorne told him, smacking the scientist's hand away from the console before he could mess with anything.

* * *

Laura walked into the infirmary to find her husband still hard at work. He'd received another transmission full of medical files from the alliance, all of them pertaining to victims of the shadows and since then he'd practically locked himself up with them, surfacing for food and sleep only. She wondered over to his desk and sat down on the edge of it, waiting for his attention which, after a few moments of his eyes scanning the paper he was reading, he gave to her.

"What can I do for you love?" he questioned.

"Buy me new guns, blow Rodney out of an airlock, cook me nice dinners, leave the infirmary for more than fifteen minutes at a time and for something other than food or sleep," Laura listed off casually and Carson smiled as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure we've not long since had this conversation."

"I have a lot of work to do Laura, if there's something in these files that might help Elizabeth and Teyla when we reach Taldis tomorrow then I want to find it," Carson told her and she nodded her head understandingly.

"You know you tell me, and everyone else, that if we work ourselves into the ground we're no good to anybody and even the work we do get done will probably need doing again because we're likely to miss something," Laura told him, repeating his words from the numerous lectures he'd given her over the years on taking better care of herself. She was pretty sure everyone else on the crew, minus Dex and Teyla, could tell him the same thing.

"You're right," Carson said sitting forward again and standing up.

"I know," Laura told him with feigned smugness. "And like you said, we get to Taldis tomorrow and we'll all be busy again then."

"So I should spend some time with my wife while I can," Carson finished for her, moving to stand in front of her where she was leaning on the desk. "So what do you want to do?"

Laura looped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. "Oh I can think of a few things," she replied suggestively.

Carson kissed her. "I hardly think the infirmary is a good place for that, Rodney could walk in at any second," he mumbled against her lips.

"And ruin all my fun as usual," Laura replied, standing up straight and kissing him again. "I guess we'll just have to take this elsewhere. I do remember saying I wanted you to leave the infirmary anyway."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Arriving on Taldis was like stepping into a city caught in the middle of a war zone. Everyone was walking around on edge, as though waiting for a bomb to drop on them. The streets were quieter than would be expected for a port city on a market planet. The people that were on the streets hurried from place to place, avoiding shadowy areas and locking doors behind them. Curtains were drawn on all the windows as though they hoped that somehow it would prevent the shadow getting in.

"This place has been hit hard," Laura said as they made their way along the quiet street.

"Then let's hurry up and do what we came for," John replied and the group made the rest of the walk to the police station in silence, taking in the city around them. The police station seemed quiet as well, the officers as on edge as the civilians, the atmosphere subdued. Laura knew from the reports they'd received that three police officers had been killed here by the shadow.

Chief Dent was a grey haired man in his fifties, he had everything they'd requested set out for them in a briefing room. He seemed stoic, emotionally detached but Laura could tell he was tired, scared and angry. They were left to go through reports, Rodney was escorted to the scenes by a local officer and Carson went to the morgue alone. There were so many reports to go through; so many witnesses to speak with that Laura and Marcus had to help with that instead of going with Carson and Rodney like they usually would.

She noticed John kept the reports from the school incident to himself, laying the task of going through them on his own shoulders rather than anyone else's. She also noticed Elizabeth switch some of those files with her own so that he wouldn't have to do them alone. Once everyone had their files and the list of witnesses to go with them they went their separate ways, no one was able to go with a partner this time, there were just too many witnesses, too many attacks for that. Instead they were all escorted by a local officer.

Laura was escorted by Officer Sampson; she was young, probably still quite new to the job. She could tell how much the shadow attacks had affected the young officer, how much more talking to witnesses was affecting her and by the time they were half way through the list the woman was emotionally exhausted. Laura couldn't deny that she was too; she wasn't sure how John and Elizabeth had managed to do this since the attacks first began.

"Let's take a break," Laura suggested. "I think we could both do with something to eat and half an hour away from this."

"But shouldn't you get these finished, I mean the longer it takes the more chance there is of someone getting killed again," Sampson said, she looked worried as though she was expecting a shadow to appear the moment she agreed to take a break. Laura didn't tell her that there was a chance it would take another attack for them to be able to track down the Shadow.

"Sometimes you just have to step back and allow your mind a moment to rest, otherwise you'll burn yourself out and you can't save anybody that way. We're both hungry and we've spent the last four hours listening to one horrible story after another about people dying. We need a break, then we can come back to this with a slightly fresher mind."

The young officer nodded, still looking unsure but as long as Laura could get her to sit down, eat something and talk about something unrelated to the shadows then that was all that mattered.

* * *

It had taken the majority of the day to get through the witness list and there were still people that hadn't been available to talk to them. They had gotten what they needed to though, they could understand the behaviour of this particular shadow and from that they could start trying to figure out where it was hiding, where it might attack next, what they could do to minimise casualties. They also knew how aggressive it was, this one was by far the most aggressive they'd come across. It picked out its victims like all the others but it had no problem killing anyone else along with them, the school was evidence enough of that.

He was exhausted but kept his mind awake and alert as he sat with the local detectives who were going through everything they knew that hadn't been in the files, including their newest theory.

"There's been a pattern to the attacks, they always start on this side of the city and then work around it until they stop again for a few days," the chief told them. "We think that maybe the shadow is resting somewhere here," the chief indicated the area of the city in between where each wave of attacks started and ended.

"This is all forest here?" John questioned, pointing to the edge of the map he was being shown.

The chief nodded. "Taldis Woods, they go on for about fifty miles."

"That's probably where the Shadow is hiding, it's quiet, dark, it's not likely to be discovered," John stated. It would be dark soon; it was too dangerous to go searching for it now. They would have to wait until morning, hopefully by then they'd also have a better idea of exactly where to look, fifty miles of forest was a lot of ground to cover. "I want you to mark on this map the locations of all the first and last attacks in each wave."

The officers did as instructed while John got on the radio and called his team back. They'd all been close by so it didn't take them long to reach him and he quickly filled them in on the latest theory. They were shown where all the first and last attacks had taken place and were able to narrow down the search area and set up a search grid so more ground could be covered quickly.

"Alright, we've done everything we can for tonight," John said once they had everything in place for tomorrow. "I suggest everyone go home and get some sleep, you're going to need it for the morning. We'll brief at 7:30, anyone going on the search please be here by then and keep this to yourselves, we don't need a media circus or any civilians showing up."

"Wouldn't it be helpful to have more people involved, we usually use civilians when searching the woods, we just don't have the manpower to cover that much ground?" one of the officers asked and John shook his head, surprised at the question. The officer was young though, clearly still learning the ropes, there was nothing like being thrown in the deep end to learn how to swim.

"This isn't a lost hiker we're dealing with and we're not searching for a body. This shadow is extremely dangerous; if it were possible not to have any of you there I would prefer that. You have no way to fight these things; no way to defend yourselves, if it gets near you it will kill you. As police officers you know how to follow instructions, its part of your job, I can't be sure that civilians will do the same, they're an unknown and could put the entire operation at risk," John explained and received several nods and murmurs of agreement. "Chief Dent has informed me that the terrain in the forest is difficult; please be prepared for that, I'll see you all in the morning."

* * *

Ronon walked into the kitchen with Teyla, both of them ready for the long day ahead. Lorne, Cadman and Beckett were already there, the three of them halfway through breakfast which Beckett had obviously cooked.

"There's plenty left for you," Beckett told them gesturing to the kitchen. "I made enough for everyone; we can't very well go hiking through the forest without a decent breakfast in us."

"Thank you," Teyla replied as she walked over and dished out two plates of food, leaving enough for the three still absent members of the crew. Sheppard and Elizabeth walked in only minutes later, both of them getting something to eat before joining the rest of them at the table. It was fairly quiet as they ate, everyone intent on their own thoughts. They'd all finished eating by the time McKay walked in, he looked uncomfortable in the hiking gear he'd been forced to wear and he dropped his backpack with a thud.

"I don't get why I need all that stuff," he complained.

"What do you mean all that stuff, it's mostly just emergency supplies, it's not even that heavy," Lorne told him, lifting his open backpack up from the floor next to him as if to prove a point, waving it up and down. McKay just glared at him as he grabbed the rest of the food from the kitchen and sat down to eat it.

"We're leaving in ten minutes Rodney," Sheppard told him as he stood up and grabbed his backpack.

"What, you're not even gonna give me time to eat?" McKay questioned, the pitch of his voice rising.

"I told you we were leaving at 7:00, you should have gotten up earlier," Sheppard replied leaving the room. McKay grumbled something about indigestion to himself as he ate his breakfast faster and Ronon stood up, taking his and Teyla's plates to the kitchen and placing them both in the dish washer with everyone else's.

They were slightly late leaving the ship, they'd all stood outside waiting for McKay to join them for five minutes, the alliance agents had all yelled at the scientist to hurry up repeatedly. He came out eventually, still grumbling to himself as they took the two cars they'd been given to the police station. There was a reporter outside trying to get a quote from the agents, trying to get the full story but they ignored him. The station seemed a lot busier than it had yesterday and Ronon figured they'd called in any off duty officers to help with the search.

Sheppard and Elizabeth went to speak to the chief while the others helped some of the officers get ready for the search, handing out bottles of waters and snacks. It was just before 7:30 when the chief called for everyone's attention and Sheppard briefed them all on the plan for the day.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you all how dangerous this Shadow is. If you locate it, do not engage it, do not even approach it," Sheppard emphasised the point. "You can't fight them, you can't defend yourselves from them, your weapons are useless against it. If you find it, radio my team and give us your position, we'll be with you as quickly as possible. I'll say it again, do not engage the Shadow. Now please see these officers for your grid assignments."

Everyone moved over to the officers that Sheppard had gestured to, stood to the left of the room with data pads. Sheppard walked over to join the rest of his team, weaving his way through the crowd of officers.

"I've split us up so we'll be evenly spread around the search area, that way they'll hopefully be at least one of us close to anyone who finds the Shadow," Sheppard told them all, he pointed to the map on the wall behind them. "Rodney, you'll be in grid one, Elizabeth will be in grid 3 and Ronon in grid 5. I'll take Grid 7, Laura, you'll be in grid 9, Teyla in grid 11, Carson in grid 13 and Marcus in grid 15. That means that at least two members of the team will be no more than a grid away from anyone who finds the Shadow."

"Good plan," Lorne nodded.

"It's about a half an hour drive from here to the forest, once the extra supplies have been loaded into the cars we'll be ready to go," Sheppard told them. The team made their way outside where several officers were loading up bottles of water into the back of several cars and two busses were waiting to carry officers to the search area. It wasn't long before the chief gave them the go ahead and everyone began piling into busses and cars. Ronon was glad the team had their own two, comfortable, spacious cars.

Ronon and Teyla shared a car with Sheppard and Elizabeth, the drive was mostly quiet and it seemed like forever before they arrived and Ronon was able to get out of the car and stretch his legs. The rest of the team pulled up behind them and the cars and busses carrying the local police were not far behind. Ronon was surprised by how quickly the cops got themselves organised and it wasn't long before he was walking through the dense forest. There were thirteen locals assigned to the same grid, all of them instructed to follow Ronon's orders. Ronon had been surprised when Sheppard had declared him to be in charge of the searchers in his grid, it was a lot of trust to be placing on him. What choice did they have though really? The only people with any real experience of the shadows were him, Teyla and the alliance agents.

He occasionally heard voices over the radio, mostly teams checking in with each other and with the base camp they'd set up just outside the forest. Other than that it was quiet in the forest, even the sounds of the wildlife were few and far between, as though they knew what was in there with them. The quiet was interrupted by a voice on his radio, loud and urgent as it informed them it had found the Shadow and it took Ronon a moment to recognise it as Beckett. He went through the list of search grids in his head, remembering that Beckett was in grid 13, the other side of the search area. He took off that way, ordering the rest of the officers to stay in their grid, they would do no good if they followed him and if the shadow got away there'd be people around the area that could spot where it went.

Teyla was in grid 11,that put her only two grids away from the Shadow and Elizabeth was in grid 3, even further away than Ronon was. The terrain was rough, it would slow them all down but Teyla would encounter the shadow long before he could get there, long before Elizabeth could get there and without Elizabeth, Teyla had no defence against the Shadow. His legs moved faster, he ignored the officers he passed by and focused only on the voices coming through his radio. Elizabeth was making her way there but she was still all the way back in grid 4, coming up on grid 5. Teyla was already in grid 13, following the noise to where the Shadow was. Beckett's comm. remained open and Ronon could hear him shouting at the officers to stop firing, to pull back and a moment later announce into the radio that they had an officer down.

Then he heard Teyla's voice tell them she was there, she could see the Shadow and he was sure his blood froze in his veins. He tried to run faster knowing that even if he got there now there was really nothing he could do to help her. Elizabeth informed them she was in grid 6, still too far away. Ronon wasn't even sure which grid he was in now, he just kept running. Cadman and Lorne both arrived where the Shadow was, their voices joining Beckett's in getting the officers to pull back.

"Another officer down," Lorne shouted into the radio. "Pull back, stop firing and pull back."

"I'm in grid 7, coming up on grid 8" Elizabeth's voice announced breathlessly.

"In grid 13," Sheppard's stated and Ronon heard his voice join the rest of the agents that were already there. Sheppard had only been two grids ahead of him; Ronon had to be close now. "Teyla get back, Elizabeth's not here yet," Sheppard shouted and Ronon could feel the wave of dread run through his body.

"I'm in grid 10," Elizabeth's voice told them; she was still three grids away.

"Teyla back up, you can't fight in on your own," Sheppard called, Ronon could barely hear his voice through Beckett's open radio and he hadn't heard anything from Teyla. "That's an order Emmagan, get back here."

Ronon prayed she'd do as she was told, it was the only time he had ever, and probably would ever, so desperately want her to follow and alliance agent's orders. He heard gunfire and shouting up ahead and knew he had to be close. Several officers moved passed him, going in the opposite direction, pulling back as they'd been ordered to. Then he ran into a clearing, Lorne, Cadman and Beckett were still ordering men to pull back. Sheppard was amongst the trees, unmoving, silent and Ronon fought back his anxiety as he ran over to them.

He was stopped by Sheppard's arm and Ronon followed his gaze to where Teyla stood. She was facing down the Shadow; neither was moving, as though they were sizing each other up. He wanted to run over there, to shout to her, to get her to move back but he knew if he did anything to upset the situation, anything to break whatever spell had been cast over them, he could make things worse. At least this was buying them time for Elizabeth to catch up to them, she couldn't be far away now; she'd only been two grids behind him.

It seemed like time had frozen, for several minutes they all just stood there and then without warning the Shadow moved. It swept towards Teyla so fast no one had time to react, it enveloped her, killing her slowly and Ronon tried to run to her only to be hit by some kind of light that knocked him back to the floor. Sheppard grabbed his arm and pulled him up, he heard Teyla cry out and only John's hand stopped him running to her again.

Elizabeth moved passed them, running toward the shadow and Ronon felt Sheppard tense beside him. She reached through the shadow, pain on her face as she grabbed Teyla and the Shadow screeched, feeling pain of its own now that the connection between the Electus had been made. Ronon squinted his eyes against the light he knew was coming, it flashed brightly and disappeared quickly, taking the Shadow with it.

Teyla and Elizabeth hit the ground and Ronon ran to Teyla as she tried to push herself up from the mud. He helped her to sit up, she looked dazed and exhausted as she looked at him and then quickly glanced at Elizabeth.

"Hey, we didn't lose consciousness that time," Elizabeth said brightly, her voice full of exhaustion as she leaned her head against Sheppard.

"Four down," Teyla whispered breathlessly. "Four to go."

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**Authors Note: This is a short chapter but I wanted to get something posted. Thanks to those still reading and reviewing, let me know what you think!**

Chapter 27

They were already on their way to the next planet under the siege of a Shadow. Carson had declared Teyla and Elizabeth to be well, their chemical readings were slightly out of the safe zone but the doctor had assured them that the levels should have dropped enough by the time they made it to Durak. The crew were all taking the opportunity to relax while they had it, John had ordered everybody not to do paper work, reports, or anything else mission related until they were less than 48 hours from Durak.

Elizabeth headed for the bridge where John had last been spotted and found him sitting in the pilot's chair. It looked like he was making adjustments to their course and she dropped into the chair at sensors and waited for him to finish.

"There's been reports of Vernai ships in the area, I'm making sure we go around them," John told her without looking up from the console.

"Will it take us any longer to reach Durak?" she questioned and he shook his head.

"Not really, a few more hours at the most," he replied and she waited until he'd finished. "What's up?"

"Why does something have to be up?" she questioned and he gave her a half smile and raised eyebrow. "Alright, there usually is something up but not this time, we're all good for the moment."

"That's nice to hear," he said and looked her over. "How are you feeling, you've slept most of the last two days away?"

"You try using your own body's energy to destroy a living shadow intent on destroying all human life and see if you can go without a couple of naps afterward," she replied humorously. It was good to see her smiling again; she seemed to be in a better mood in the last couple of days. It probably had something to do with the fact that they'd now destroyed four of the shadows, they were half way through this and they were all beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

"I'll pass," he told her, truth be told he'd take the pain of it away from her if he could. He could tell from the look on her face she knew that though. "Is Carson making dinner yet?"

She laughed. "No, it's so unfair to rely on him to make it all the time; he has other things to do."

"He enjoys it," John defended himself and she smiled.

"Doesn't mean he should have to do it all the time," she replied and then grinned in a way he didn't like. "I think we should do it."

John raised an eyebrow at her. "You want us to cook?"

"Why not?" she said as she stood up. "We'll make something nice but easy, I'll show you and it'll be nice for Carson to have a good meal made for him for a change."

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" John questioned and she held her hand out to him, not bothering to answer the question. "Alright, lead the way, but if someone dies of food poisoning, it's on you."

"Don't be so dramatic," she replied, dragging him toward the kitchen.

* * *

Teyla had loved sparring since she'd first started to get the hang of it back on Ronon's ship. It was a great way to vent her frustrations, to relieve all the anger and tension that built up on her and she had missed the outlet every time it had been taken from her. It had helped her get through Elizabeth abandoning her, through all the crap the Vernai had put her through and now it was helping her get through the Shadows. She was tired, travelling from one planet to the next, confronting shadow after shadow, it was wearing her down. The death toll was rising every day and she actually felt bad about it, bad that she hadn't been able to stop it by now and that fact alone was enough to annoy her.

So Ronon, as usual, was on the receiving end of her annoyance, not that he ever seemed to mind and when she was really annoyed it usually gave him the upper hand, not her. She swung for him, the badly aimed move missing easily and his bantos rod catching the back of her arm as she tried to spin away from him, the move not as graceful as usual.

"You want to talk about it," Ronon asked as they faced off against each other once more, circling each other like prey.

"No," Teyla replied and forced herself to be patient, to wait for the right moment to move as much as her body was just begging to swing at something. Ronon moved first, one quick spin and the bantos rod almost collided with her neck but she blocked it, barely, and then used her free arm to swing back at him, his bantos rod collided with hers , blocking the move.

"You're making this easy," Ronon told her and she pushed herself back from him, putting some distance between them. "And you're getting stress lines on your face."

Teyla couldn't help the small smile. "You telling me I look old?"

"No, I'm telling you that you look stressed," Ronon replied with his own small smile as he moved into her once again, knocking the bantos rod from her hand before she could react and forcing her body back against the wall, his own bantos rod at her neck. "Want to talk about it now?"

"No," Teyla repeated. "I'm just tired, frustrated and annoyed, all for reasons you can probably figure out. I'll be fine once this whole thing is over but until then I think there are two people on this ship more entitled than anyone else to be a little cranky."

Ronon narrowed his eyes at her. "You're including Elizabeth in that?"

Teyla froze for a moment, her mind playing catch up and she realised that she had indeed included Elizabeth in that. She sympathised with the agent, it had snuck up on her but Teyla actually felt for her, for everything the woman had gone through and was going through now. She still resented her, at least she was fairly sure she still resented her but she could sympathise now.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Teyla replied as Ronon stepped back from her.

"I'm starving, let's go eat," he stated dropping the subject for which Teyla was grateful, he seemed to be able to read her better than she could even read herself at times. "Funny, how we can do that without having to sneak in there, grab food and hide in our rooms now."

"Yeah, when exactly did that happen?" Teyla questioned and Ronon shrugged. It had been subtle but the two of them had actually settled into life on the ship which had seemed impossible when they'd first gotten here. They hadn't been able to leave their room without almost getting into a physical fight with a member of the crew, she hadn't been able to look at the alliance agents without contempt so strong she wanted them to give her an excuse for a fist fight and the idea that she was helping the alliance had been sickening, a means to an end and nothing more.

"I don't know but I'm taking full advantage of it, who knows when they'll turn again," Ronon commented as he grabbed both their gym bags and motioned for her to follow him out of the gym. She snapped herself out of her thoughts and hurried after him.

* * *

Durak had the same feel to it that Taldis had, like stepping into a war zone. Everyone was on edge, terrified and the death toll here was high. The Shadows seemed to be responding to their dwindling numbers, they were become more aggressive, taking more lives. Laura finished briefing the local detectives, she and Marcus had been left with the task while the others got a jump start on the rest of the investigation. Carson was already down in the morgue, Rodney was at one of the attack scenes with a local officer and the others were interviewing witnesses.

She and Marcus were supposed to join them, having been left with a shorter list of people that needed visiting and they figured if they split it between the two of them they could be done within two or three hours at the most. She hated this, Taldis had been the first time she'd really had to talk to the people who had seen the attacks, who had lost loved ones, their grief was overwhelming, especially when she got it in bulk.

"So, I'm going to head out now," Marcus told her. "The quicker I get started the quicker I'll..."

He was cut off by a detective running into the room. "The Shadow is attacking."

She immediately reached for her radio, letting the others know and ran out the door behind Marcus. They jumped into their car, the two of them speeding away, following the police car in front of them as they raced through the streets. She knew it was unlikely they would get there before anyone died, the Shadow wouldn't have attacked unless it knew who it was aiming for already. She could only hope they got their before it disappeared again.

They pulled the car to the side of the road when the car in front stopped and jumped out, following the screaming and the officers to where the Shadow was. Laura shouted for people to get back, told the officers not to get any closer, had they even been listening in the briefing just now?

"Laura," she heard John's voice behind her. She saw him running up to her and she nodded toward the shadow.

"Elizabeth is five minutes away, Teyla's not far behind her," John told her. "Keep everyone back until they get here."

She ran off to do as instructed, the area was already clearing, civilians had vacated the area for the most part which just left the officers running around. Some of them tried to shoot at the Shadow but to no avail, weapons didn't work against them and she heard Marcus tell them to get back along with a couple of colourful names.

Laura saw Elizabeth running through the chaos and looked around her for Teyla who hadn't arrived yet. As if on cue a car screeched to a halt and Teyla jumped out, running straight to Elizabeth as she neared the Shadow. It clearly knew who they were because it backed off rather abruptly once they were both there.

"What did I miss," Rodney asked rather breathlessly as he appeared at her side.

There were gunshots from behind and Laura turned to tell whichever officers were firing to stop when she realised it was the local officers that had been shot. She looked further down the street and saw men and women, armed and wearing Vernai uniforms moving amongst the cars and buildings.

"John," she shouted grabbing her own weapon and firing. Several more officers were shot, their focus being on the Shadow, they had yet to notice the threat creeping in behind them. John was by her side in an instant, Dex appearing now as well, she hadn't even noticed his arrival. They fired on the Vernai, the officers, now having realised there was a second threat to them, were also returning fire.

Rodney was hit, his body falling backwards and hitting the ground. She cursed and moved to his side, allowing the others to cover her as she pulled Rodney's hand from the bleeding wound in his shoulder.

"I'm gonna die," Rodney whimpered and Laura rolled her eyes.

"Not if you stay still, it's not that bad," she told him and watched his eyes widen.

"Not that bad, not that bad?" he exclaimed. "Don't you tell me it's not that bad, you're not the one lying here in agony."

Laura looked over to check on Elizabeth and Teyla, they were both on the ground, the Shadow looming over them but it quickly backed away again and disappeared into shadows. Elizabeth dragged herself from the floor and ran over to them, Teyla following. The sound of gunfire seemed to be decreasing and Laura looked around her, many of the officers had been hit, the Vernai having the advantage of surprise and numbers.

Laura saw the man behind Teyla too late, his weapon aimed toward her as she ran. "Teyla, get down," she shouted knowing it would do little good. The bullet hit the back of her leg and she fell forward, her body colliding with the ground. Elizabeth had turned around when she heard Laura shout, she started to run back toward Teyla firing at the man who had shot her. He went down but he'd been joined by others who quickly returned Elizabeth's fire and she was forced to drop down behind car.

Teyla was grabbed by her hair as she tried to push herself up from the ground, her head dragged backwards and a gun pressed to her temple. "Hold your fire, or she dies," the man shouted and a moment later John ordered everyone to cease fire.

Silence descended over the area, everyone was frozen, waiting for whatever would happen next. Laura applied more pressure to Rodney's shoulder, knowing he wouldn't be getting medical attention as quickly as she'd hoped.

"Well, look what we have here," a familiar voice said, Kolya walked out from between his men, a smirk on his face.

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

**Authors Note: Thanks to those who are still reading this story, here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 28

Teyla didn't move as she watched Kolya step out from amongst the other Vernai. She had known when they had escaped from the Vernai, the second time, that she hadn't heard the last of him. He was the kind of person that could hold a grudge for a lifetime and it was pretty big grudge he had against her and Ronon. She'd been dragged to her feet which had only made the searing pain in her leg worse, she could feel the warm blood down the back of her leg but she was sure the bullet had only grazed her.

"You're making a habit of making my life more difficult," Kolya said, the statement directed mostly at her and Ronon. "This time I will just have to kill you quickly and be done with it," he told Ronon, a smug smirk on his face.

Several more Vernai soldiers appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and surrounded the Alliance personnel and the local cops, their numbers already cut in half by the initial fire fight. They were all disarmed, Ronon had the back of his legs taken out from under him, receiving several kicks to his torso when he refused to hand over his weapon, instead having it forcibly taken from him. Teyla wanted nothing more than to go to him but the man with a gun pressed to her head and his arm around her waist prevented her from moving.

"As for you," Kolya turned to Teyla. "You're going to be begging me to kill you."

She wanted to respond but she knew it would only make the situation worse so instead she remained quiet, silently glaring at him as he ordered his men to gather the local police in one place. The alliance agents were gathered in another spot and the two electus were kept separate from the rest of the group.

She looked over to Ronon meeting his worried gaze for a brief moment before looking away, not wanting to draw attention to their relationship from Kolya, he'd only take advantage of it. The man holding her up finally released her but his weapon, along with those of two other men, remained aimed at her and Elizabeth. She leaned all her weight on her uninjured leg, the pain abating only a little.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked with a glance at her leg and Teyla nodded.

"I'll be fine, I think the bullet just grazed me," she told her knowing it was probably a little more than a graze but not wanting to be another thing for her worry about.

"I saw a couple of the local officers get away, they'll have gotten word to the police station by now, help will be on its way," Elizabeth stated.

"I just hope it gets here in time."

* * *

Carson was sitting in one of the police cars that were heading to where his friends and the local officers were being held at gun point. The police had been quick to react when they'd found out about the hostage situation and he was actually impressed by how quickly everything had been put in place to deal with it. There were several squads of police officers on their way to the scene now, several more were already there surrounding the area and setting up a command post.

"What can you tell me about this Kolya?" the chief of police asked him as they sped to the scene, sirens wailing from several vehicles.

"He's a Vernai commander, one of their most ruthless. He's got a grudge against our team, particularly against Dex and Emmagan. His mission is to capture the electus and killing the rest of my team would be a bonus for him," Carson explained wondering how much to tell him, whether to tell him that Dex and Teyla had worked for the Vernai at one point.

"Why does he have a grudge against you?" the chief questioned, his eyes on the road.

"He had Emmagan in custody at one point, she escaped and came to us, we destroyed the Cloud which the Vernai had been counting on destroying humanity, his admiral wasn't pleased. We also escaped his custody a couple of months ago which I'm sure did nothing to help his status with the Admiral," Carson told him and then bit his lip as he came to the realisation he had to tell the chief about Dex, it could make things worse if he was blindsided by it. "There's also something else you should know. Dex used to work for the Vernai; he was one of their most respected Commanders until about six months ago. Emmagan also worked for them for a brief period."

"You're telling me they're Vernai?" the Chief asked angrily.

"They're both human, they just worked for the Vernai but that's no longer the case, they work for the Alliance now and they were instrumental in destroying the Cloud and have been again in destroying the Shadows," Carson was quick to defend not wanting this to effect the situation anymore than it already did.

"You shouldn't have kept this from me," the chief spat, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

"Your reaction right now is exactly the reason we don't tell people," Carson replied. "We can't allow their past to affect out ability to do our job, or other people's ability to do theirs. Dex and Emmagan are both hostages, not only that but Emmagan is an Electus, her survival is key to stopping the Shadows."

"So what you're saying is that I'm supposed to put the life of a traitor above those of my men, people who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Durak?" the older man asked, his anger becoming more apparent.

"I'm a doctor, every life is equally important to me but as much as I don't like saying it, the most important thing in this situation is that both of the Electus come out of it alive and able to continue to do their job, whatever the cost of that might be. I'm not saying to needlessly risk lives, if there is a way to save everyone then I'm all for it, hell, my wife is one of the hostages but the Electus are the most important people in there," Carson explained. "I've told you the truth about Dex and Emmagan because you need to know, because it could hurt our chances if you're blindsided by it, do not make me regret it."

"I understand Dr Beckett; it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

Everything was just about set up when they arrived on the scene. Snipers had been positioned and several other cops had surrounded the area where the hostages were, staying at a distance and out of sight so as not to antagonise the situation. The chief issued orders as Carson followed him to a surveillance van where video feeds from street cameras were being streamed in. His eyes immediately searched out Laura; she was knelt on the ground next to Rodney, her arm holding what looked like her jacket over Rodney's shoulder.

Elizabeth and Teyla were being held separate from everyone else, Teyla seemed to be favouring one leg and Carson could see the damp dark fabric covering the back of her calf, probably blood. She was alive though, as was Elizabeth, which was the most important thing. The rest of his team looked unharmed but there were several dead police officers and more that were injured huddled together between several men with guns.

"Looks like eight people are injured, only three of them look severe but this one," he pointed to one of the local officers who were on the floor, leaning back against another officer, blood soaking his uniform. "He needs medical attention fast."

"Put me through to Officer Greenway's radio," the Chief ordered and waited to be put through. "This is Chief Gregory, I'd like to speak with Commander Kolya."

Carson watched as all heads turned to look at the officer whose radio had spoken. Kolya walked over to him and Greenway handed the radio over to him. "This is Commander Kolya, I'm not interested in negotiations but I am not unreasonable. I want my shuttles to be able to land here without incident, myself, my men, the Alliance personnel and the electus will leave and your men will remain unharmed."

"I'm sure you understand my position here commander, I can't allow any of your vessels into the city," Chief Gregory stated.

"Several of my vessels are already in the city, I want them to be allowed to pick us up and for us to be able to leave," Kolya replied. He seemed calm but Carson knew firsthand the anger that he was no doubt feeling, he knew how volatile the man could be and he'd seen what he did to the people who crossed him.

"We're aware of all if not most of your vessels, they've already been commandeered, I can't do what you're asking me to," the chief replied. They'd gotten word of several vessels that had landed in the city shortly before they'd found out about the hostage situation, they hadn't known at the time that they were Vernai though.

"I'm not asking you to do anything, I'm telling you, if you don't do as I say, I'll start killing people, allow my vessels to pick us up and leave," Kolya dropped the radio on the floor, a sure sign that he was done talking.

"Is the special tactics squad here yet?" Gregory asked. Every police force had a special tactics squad; they were specially trained to deal with situations that were beyond what the regular police force could handle. Carson knew they would only be using the special tactics squad if talking had failed. Gregory obviously sensed his thoughts. "I'm not sending them in yet but they need to be in place should the situation take a turn for the worse."

"I know that, it doesn't make me feel better," Carson told him.

Over the following hour several conversations between Kolya and Gregory took place all of them ending with the same demand and threat of killing. Even John's attempts to talk them out of the situation from the inside were unsuccessful. They were running out of time now, Kolya wasn't going to negotiate, he wasn't going to give them more time or fall for any of the usual tactics. They were fast approaching the point not where Kolya was going to start shooting.

"Tell the tactical team to prepare to go in, they know the plan," Gregory ordered and Carson held his breath for a moment, his eyes going to the screen where his wife and friends were. "The Electus are their first priority."

"Yes sir," a young officer replied, hurrying to carry out her orders.

"I'm sorry Dr Beckett, but we're looking at a minimal loss situation here, the chances are not everyone is going to make it out of there alive," Gregory told him and Carson could only nod, not trusting himself to speak for the moment.

Everything seemed to happen both too quickly and agonisingly slow from then on. The orders to go in were given and Carson watched the screens helplessly as groups of heavily armed officers in black uniforms swarmed the scene. The shooting started, within seconds there were several people on both sides dead and dying. Elizabeth and Teyla were quickly secured, the men guarding them had been among the first to be taken out while the locals still had the advantage of surprise on their side. They were led from the scene, grudgingly allowing themselves to be guided to safety while looking back to the rest of their team who were still in danger.

John and Marcus quickly got hold of weapons from the dead Vernai while Laura remained where she was, knelt next to Rodney putting pressure on his wound. Marcus handed her a weapon so she could defend both herself and Rodney. Many of the Vernai were taken out, others escaped into the city but the fire fight was soon over. Carson released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, relieved that all of his team had made it out alive but feeling guilty that he could be relieved when several of the local officers had lost their lives.

Carson hurried out of the surveillance van and followed Gregory and some of the locals to the scene. He met up with Teyla and Elizabeth who were being kept out of the way until they could ensure the area was clear of Vernai. Teyla's leg was being treated by a paramedic and Elizabeth was demanding to be allowed back to the scene, finally making it an order as she spotted Carson heading her way.

"You both alright?" he asked as he approached.

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied with a glance at Teyla.

"I'm gonna be limping for a few days but it's just a graze really," Teyla told him. "Go check on the others."

Rodney was being taken care of on the scene for now, his shoulder being patched up enough to make it safe to move him. Laura was stood the side wiping blood from her hands as she spoke to one of the local officers. Carson noticed Elizabeth run over to John, the two of them trying to remain professional despite whatever they were feeling at the moment.

Carson wasn't a soldier though, and he wasn't an agent, he walked over to Laura and pulled her in to his arms and despite the fact that she was every bit the alliance agent she allowed him his few moments, she knew he went through hell whenever she was in danger.

"I'm fine," she told him when she pulled back.

"I know," he replied and then nodded toward Rodney. "How's he?"

"It's not as bad as it looks, or as bad as he's making it out to be, he'll be fine," Laura stated with a small smile. "It could have ended a lot worse."

Carson really didn't want to think about that.

* * *

It had been a few days since the incident with Kolya, Rodney had been released from the hospital within 48 hours into Carson's care and Teyla was limping around the ship under orders to take it easy. They were fairly certain the shadow had left the planet after it's confrontation with Elizabeth and Teyla and Kolya had managed to escape from the hostage scene. They'd spent two days trying to find him but after that they'd had to leave it to the local authorities to determine if he was still on the planet. They had a duty to track down and destroy the remaining shadows so they'd had to leave Durak.

The nearest planet under attack from a Shadow was still three days away and John was grateful for the downtime it provided the crew. Teyla and Rodney needed time to recover from their injuries and it would be difficult for Teyla to face down a Shadow until she'd had chance to heal. The crew were all coping in their own ways, Marcus and Laura had spent a lot of time in the gym, Carson had stuck to Laura's side like glue. Dex and Teyla had been in their room for most of the last three days, Rodney was trying to drive everyone crazy since he wasn't allowed to work in his lab and John and Elizabeth had immersed themselves in work, spending their time going through reports.

"Carson thinks the Shadows might be using people for energy," Elizabeth stated as she sat in the middle of the bed with a report.

"Yeah, he told me the other day; he and Rodney are looking deeper into it. It's interesting that no one's really considered that much before now," John replied as he looked over at her.

"No one but them has really been able to study them, not in as much detail and as close up as they have anyway. Even with the Cloud, Rodney and Carson got a closer look at it than anyone else," Elizabeth replied and John stood up and walked over to the bed.

"Except you and Teyla, you two were inside it," he remarked and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, except me and Teyla," she told him trying to back up on the bed as he grabbed her ankles and pulled her toward him. "John!"

"What?" he questioned innocently.

"Stop distracting me, I'm trying to work here," she said and he smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her. There was a knock at the door and John groaned as he kissed her again quickly and went to answer it.

"Council is on the comm." Lorne told him as he opened the door. "They're requesting to speak to you, me Laura and Elizabeth."

"Alright," he said following Marcus to the bridge, aware of Elizabeth hurrying along behind him. It must be important if they wanted to speak to all four of the agents on board. Laura was already there when he arrived, leaning back against the wall waiting.

"Thank you for coming Agents," the councillor on the screen said. "I'm going to keep this brief; we've had people studying the Shadow attacks in terms of where the planets they've been on in an effort to predict where they may attack next."

"And I take it you found something," John replied. The screen changed to a map of the known Galaxy, several planets highlighted in red and John immediately recognised them as planets they had been to on this mission.

"The highlighted planets are those where the Shadows have attacked," the councillor's voice told them. White lines began to appear on the screen, connecting some of the planets like a child's 'dot to dot' game. "Each of these lines represents what we believe is each individual Shadows pattern of attack, including those you have destroyed."

"They're all moving towards the centre," Lorne stated. "But you can't be sure which attacks were which Shadows, it could still be random."

"That's a possibility but we don't believe so," the councillors voice replied, the four of the white lines began to grow, joining up planets that were not yet flashing red. "These are the paths we predict the four remaining Shadows will take."

The lines joined up at a planet in the centre of the screen, the planet and the name below it flashing furiously.

"They're heading to Atlantis."

TBC

**Authors Note (PLEASE READ)**

**There are three, maybe four, chapters left of this story. The Electus series had originally been planned to be a seven part series but reviews and hits are down so much now that I'm wondering if there is really any point in continuing once I finish this story. Let me know what you guys think, should I continue after this fic or just leave it at that? **


	29. Chapter 29

**Authors Note: So sorry for once again making you guys wait, university has just taken over my life. I hope this chapter was worth the wait, and a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story. Special thanks to those who reviewed. **

Chapter 29

"And we're absolutely sure?" Rodney questioned. "You said they weren't even sure which attacks were which Shadow, they could be wrong."

"I don't think they're wrong Rodney," John replied and Elizabeth could see fear and panic beginning to set in for the scientist. He was still suffering from the gunshot wound to his side, Carson had allowed him out of the infirmary but he wasn't supposed to be up and about. He'd been ordered to get plenty of bed rest and they'd all taken turns in spending time with him. It was horrible to say but they all looked forward to the end of their turn, to handing him over to someone else, he was cranky as hell stuck in bed all day, bored, tired and in pain.

"They've had their people looking into this for a while and I don't think they would have contacted us if they weren't sure," Laura stated as she sat next to Rodney at the table.

"It makes sense, we came to the conclusion early in this mission that the Shadows weren't the mindless killers they were originally thought to be and we've been getting more and more confirmation of that since," John said, placing his hands on the back of the chair in front of him. "These things are organised, they plan their movements when they make their kills and we've got some evidence that their consciousnesses are linked together. It's not a stretch to say that they have a plan, an ultimate goal in mind and if that's the case, wiping out the heart of human civilisation is definitely a possibility."

"So what do we do about it?" Carson questioned. "We're already working as fast as we can to destroy them."

"Two of the Shadows are on planets close to Atlantis; the council don't think they're going to stop at any other planets now. The other two are still some distance away but if the plan is to destroy Atlantis they'll probably want to be there at the same time as the first two, they're likely going to head more or less straight there as well, if they make any stops it'll be to replenish their energy only," John explained. "The council want us to go directly to Atlantis."

"What?" Carson exclaimed. "What about the people on the planets between the last two Shadows and Atlantis, we can't just abandon them."

"The council said they don't think the Shadows are going to make any more stops, unless it's a brief one to replenish their energy, they'd be gone before we even arrived at the planet," Marcus said leaning back in his chair, a look of resigned disappointment on his face. None of them liked the idea of just leaving the people on those planets to die but there was very little they could do about it.

"We don't know that, the council is guessing," Carson replied. "What if they're wrong and one of the Shadows stays on a planet for days. It could kill dozens of people and we would have had the chance to stop it."

"I understand your point Carson, I even agree with it," John told him sympathetically. "I don't like this anymore than you do but it's more than likely the Council is right. They haven't just thrown this theory out there; they've put time and resources into this."

"Besides," Marcus said as he stood up. "Orders are orders right?"

"You two haven't said anything," John stated looking at Dex and Teyla.

"Didn't realise we had a say," Dex commented and Teyla rolled her eyes at him.

"It is a good theory and as you said, a likely one, it would seem we have little choice," she said calmly and it briefly irked Elizabeth that she seemed so unconcerned for the lives that could and probably would be lost. She'd come a long way since they'd picked her up from prison, as had Dex, but the Vernai operatives they had once been were still very much a part of them.

"This is all well and good but what are we supposed to do when we get to Atlantis?" Carson questioned, there was anger in his voice, in the way he held himself that Elizabeth wasn't used to seeing from him. "Are they expecting that Elizabeth and Teyla will simply just go around and destroy each of the Shadows? They can't do it; every time they destroy one the physical toll it takes on their bodies is massive. They need time to recover between each Shadow, the physical exertion alone will kill them and that's if one of the Shadows doesn't kill them because they're too exhausted to be able to fight it."

"I don't know how this is going to work Carson; we'll have to figure it out as we go. We won't be putting Teyla and Elizabeth into any more danger than necessary," John told them, looking at the two Electus. "I know none of us like this but it's the only real option we have and if we do this right, it could all be over soon."

Carson left the room without a word, Laura going after him and Elizabeth stared at the door for a moment after they had left. He would be fine, Laura would talk to him and he would realise there was no other way to do this, even if he didn't like it.

"How long will it take us to get to Atlantis?" Teyla questioned.

"Five days in hyper space, no stops," John told them.

"Then I suppose I should get as much rest as I can between now and then," Teyla replied and then walked out of the room, still limping slightly. Ronon followed her out and Marcus muttered something about the gym as he left as well. Rodney took his time in leaving, clearly still struggling with the gunshot wound.

"You haven't said a word," John said looking at Elizabeth once they were alone.

"What is there to say, the Council is right, this is the best way," Elizabeth told him.

"Are you worried?"

"Of course I'm worried," she stated. "I'd have to be stupid not to be worried about this but we always come through, somehow. Teyla and I know what we're doing now and besides, this is the whole reason we were born."

John nodded and went to leave, brushing her hand with his as he did so and Elizabeth let out a breath as she sat down at the table. She was far more than worried, she was terrified. Carson hadn't been exaggerating when he said this could very well kill both her and Teyla. She knew the physical toll destroying just one Shadow took on her. She could probably survive two, barely, if she was forced to fight three with little chance for rest, she knew she wouldn't survive it. She just had to hope they had enough time to recover between fights.

* * *

There had been only one reports of a Shadow attack in the last two days, it seemed likely now that the Council had been right. Marcus stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, surprised that his eyes hadn't managed to burn a hole through it yet. He'd been laid in bed for almost three hours, tossing and turning, stubbornly refusing to move until he fell asleep. He was still wide awake though, his mind and body refusing to switch off for the night and get some much needed rest.

It looked like this entire mission might be about to reach its conclusion and the possibilities of what that conclusion might be were not all pleasant, in fact most of them weren't. He also knew there was next to nothing he could do to affect the outcome, very little he could do to help and that alone made him restless and uncomfortable. This was down to Elizabeth and Teyla, the rest of them were mostly just bystanders, their escorts. They could stand there and be encouraging, keep them relaxed and focused but it was all cheerleading, nothing more.

He turned onto his side, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in and closed his eyes. He counted backwards from a hundred, for a moment he thought he felt himself starting to drift to sleep but as he reached zero he was still awake, still alert and still trying to stop his mind from thinking.

They were only days away from Atlantis now and normally part of him would be glad to be heading home after such a long and difficult mission. He wasn't heading back there for a debriefing and a break while he waited to be sent out again though. He was heading back there to stop the greatest threat humanity had ever known from destroying it, from destroying his home. Marcus had been born there; he'd grown up there, attended his father's funeral there and joined the Alliance there. He'd left when he had become an Alliance soldier but had returned when he was selected as an Agent.

He didn't know what kind of havoc the four Shadows planned to throw at Atlantis but he knew it would be worse than anything they'd done so far. He turned over onto his other side, adjusting the duvet so that it still covered him. He forced his thoughts out of his mind but five seconds later he found himself thinking of Atlantis again, pondering the various scenarios. He turned onto his back again, finding that spot on the ceiling he'd spent far too much time staring at already that night.

"For crying out loud," Lorne exclaimed into the dark of his room. "I give up."

He threw back the duvet and pulled a t shirt over his head as he walked out of the room and toward the kitchen, surprised to find a light on. Laura was sat at the table with a drink in her hand, her eyes focused on the wall in the same way his had focused on the ceiling.

"Can't sleep either," he said as he walked into the room and sat down at the table.

"No," she replied, startled slightly. "Carson was exhausted though, he fell asleep almost the second his head hit the pillow. I figured I'd be better off just getting up rather than tossing and turning for a couple of hours and waking him up."

"How's he doing?" Marcus questioned leaning back in his chair with a tired sigh.

"He's alright, you know what he's like, he hates it when he can't help people and I think he's feeling pretty useless right now," Laura told him shaking her head as she spoke.

"He's not the only one," Marcus replied. "I'm just looking forward to this whole thing being over with, I think we've all earned some serious vacation time. The doc will be fine once he's tanning on a beach somewhere with this whole thing behind us."

"Think it'll be that easy?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hell no," Lorne said. "But my mind has played with all the worst case scenarios all night; I'm trying out a nice scenario."

Laura smiled. "We can only hope."

"And cheerlead," Marcus commented getting a confused look from Laura. "Never mind."

* * *

"There's been a Shadow attack on Atlantis," John stated. He'd been informed by the Council only minutes ago that at least one of the Shadows had arrived on Atlantis. The Venture was still two days away and John was well aware of how many people could be killed, of the damage even just one Shadow could do in that time. If it attacked Alliance headquarters there would be nothing anyone could do about it, they were defenceless.

"When?" Marcus questioned; his eyes wide, his tone worried.

"This morning, it killed four people in a town south of HQ," John explained. "There hasn't been any sign of it since but the Council has people out there searching for it."

"Why are they looking for it, they can't do anything to stop it, they'll be killed?" Laura asked.

"They're not looking for it to engage it, they need to know where it is, if it gets close to Headquarters they'll have to evacuate the council," John told them, hoping it didn't come to that, that the Shadow would wait for its counterparts before launching any assault on Alliance Headquarters. It was possible the shadow had just been refuelling after its journey to Atlantis, preparing for whatever they had planned. If that was the case it might lay low now, that gave them some time.

"Shouldn't they evacuate anyway, if the Shadow attacks it's not only the council that will be killed but a lot of other people, including a huge number of Alliance Agents?" Marcus said, shaking his head as though trying to rid it of thoughts he'd rather not have in there.

"They're looking into it, we have evacuation plans in place but they would rather it didn't come to that, we have a lot of operations being run from there. Agents and soldiers that are reliant on everything being in place there, it would take time to get everything set up at the Alpha site, it's not like they could just hand over the reins," John explained, he'd gone over all of this briefly with the Council.

"What are we looking at, casualty wise?" Carson asked.

"There are over 2,000 Alliance employees stationed at headquarters, plus over 10,000 soldiers stationed at the Alliance military base a few miles away," John told them, not entirely sure how he knew those numbers of the top of his head but there they were. "But there are over 3 billion people living on the planet including a lot more Alliance personnel."

"That's a lot of people," Dex stated. "They can't all be evacuated."

"No they can't, that's one of the reasons the council would rather not evacuate, if word got out there'd be mass panic and when it's all over with, the Council will have to explain why they evacuated themselves and didn't give the civilian population a chance. It may be the right thing to do and a lot of people will accept that but it will cause big problems that the Council doesn't need to be dealing with right now. We can't afford civil unrest while we're fighting a war," John replied, the situation seemed to get more complicated at every turn.

"So what do we do?" Rodney asked.

"There's nothing we can do, for now we have to trust that the Council can handle the situation on Atlantis until we get there. We're going as fast as we can, we just have to sit tight for a couple of days and monitor the situation as best we can," John told them and there were several nods and unhappy grunts.

Elizabeth and Teyla didn't say anything, they hadn't spoken at all since he'd entered the room and dropped this new information in their lap. He knew they were both worried; about what awaited them, how they were supposed to fight four Shadows at once, what the consequences would be if they failed. Teyla left the room without a word and Dex followed her, he knew that he would take care of Teyla; John's priority right now was Elizabeth.

"I'm gonna go to the gym and take this out on the equipment there," Laura said and dragged Marcus and Carson out of the room with her. She sent a glare towards Rodney when the scientist didn't move; he seemed to understand the message and quickly followed her out.

"Before you ask," Elizabeth began before John could open his mouth. "The answer is no. No, I'm not okay, I'm not even close to okay, I'm terrified and I'm worried and there's a million things that could go wrong when we get there, hell even before we get there. I have a job to do though, I don't like it, you don't like it, but there's nothing either of us can do about it."

"That about covers any conversation we might have had right there," John smirked and Elizabeth smiled slightly as he walked over to her and put his arms around her, holding her tightly and praying that everything would somehow be okay."You missed out the 'I love you' part though."

There was a moment of silence before Elizabeth responded. "I love you too."

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

**Authors Note: The long awaited update has arrived; I hope you're all not too mad at me and that it was worth the wait. The next chapter is the last, I hope you enjoy it and thanks to everyone who has reviewed. **

Chapter 30

They had received word only hours ago that a third Shadow had arrived on the planet, it had attacked a couple living on a farm south of Alliance headquarters. As a result HQ was busy when they arrived, evacuation had begun and several ships had already taken off carrying personnel to the beta site and control of various missions and assignments was being handed over to the people there slowly.

"Agent Sheppard," they were greeted by General Landry, a man who John had had a few run ins with in the past, they had often butted heads on matters. "You've arrived just in time, the council are about to be evacuated, we got a report a few minutes ago of another attack, this one was only a few miles away. The Shadows are heading this way, and there's not been a damn thing we can do about it."

"Just point us in the right direction," John instructed the man.

"We'll give you the locations of all the recent attacks, I have a team prepped and ready to head out with you," Landry told him and John nodded.

"We'll need to brief them before we head out," John replied.

"They're aware of what they have to do Agent Sheppard," Landry replied clearly having taken offence.

"I'd rather take a few minutes to go over what they already know now than realise someone didn't know something important in a few hours when they've got a Shadow breathing down their neck," John stated, ending the discussion there. "Please have them ready to head out and then gather them in a briefing room."

Fifteen minutes later John was standing in front of a team of thirty heavily armed soldiers. Elizabeth and Teyla were stood together at his side and the rest of his team were stood behind him. General Landry was stood with his men, not looking at all happy that he'd been told he ne needed to be here for this as well.

"Alright, most of you I'm sure already know all of this," John began to address the room. The chatter died down to a few whispers as most people turned their attention to him. "But I'm going through it all anyway because if any of you make a mistake out there then there's a good chance you'll get killed, that you'll get your team mates killed and if any of you get the Electus killed you're going to wish you'd paid attention in this briefing so listen up."

The last remaining whispers were silenced and John waited a few seconds until he was sure he had the room's full attention. There were at least three Shadows on this planet, all of them heading in this direction and it was going to be hard enough to stop them as it was, they didn't need a bunch of soldiers running around making mistakes because they had thought they knew it all.

"You cannot kill the Shadows," John stated letting that point sink in. "You can't kill them, don't even try to kill them. We don't need heroics, we need your eyes and we need you, if it's necessary, to make sure the area is clear of civilians. Don't approach the Shadows, don't shoot them, don't even taunt them. If you see one of them, you call it in immediately so that Agent Weir and Miss Emmagan can get to them; their safety is your number one priority."

"So if there are civilians in the area getting killed by these things we're just supposed to let that happen, just stand back and watch while we wait for you guys to show up?" one of the soldiers questioned.

"You make a judgement call, if you can get the civilians out then do it but if you get in the way of one of these things, it _will _kill you and there won't be a single thing you can do about it," John told them. "You're going out there as our eyes, we can't search for these things by ourselves. I know you don't like it, believe me, once the Shadows show up I'm in the same position as you, I have to stand back and watch because I can't fight them anymore than you can. The only people that can engage the Shadows are Weir and Emmagan, anyone else attempts it and you'll be killed. I can't stress that enough, we don't need to be distracted by you guys playing the heroes, Weir and Emmagan can't be distracted by you guys."

"Dex and Emmagan are Vernai and you want us to go out there with them?" another soldier questioned.

"Stand up," John instructed the young man who warily did so. "Dex and Emmagan have been putting their lives on the line for months to stop these Shadows, they've been tortured, shot, beaten and blasted, and yet they're still here, putting their lives on the line for you. So you tell me, Lieutenant, why should we trust _you_ to have our backs?"

The man stuttered for a moment before declaring that he was alliance and that meant he could be trusted, he didn't need to prove anything.

"Any single one of you who fails to protect Emmagan, or fails to have Dex's back, will find themselves back here at HQ facing a court martial faster than they can stutter out their excuses," John told the room, ensuring that every one of them understood the point. "We're going out there as a team, all of us; anyone who can't handle that should leave the room now."

No one moved and John continued with the rest of the briefing before ordering the group to move out.

* * *

It was getting dark; they'd been searching for hours and so far hadn't had any luck. There had been no further attacks, no sign of the Shadows anywhere and Elizabeth had guessed that they were waiting for the fourth and final Shadow to arrive before making an attempt on Headquarters. The council had already been evacuated, they'd been taken off the planet on a transport a few hours ago. There were still a lot of personnel at HQ though and there would be for a while, it was impossible to evacuate everyone, missions were still being run from there. If the Shadows destroyed HQ it could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Intel, personnel, technology, it would all be lost and some of it was irreplaceable, some of it was one of a kind, they'd never get it back. It would cost them, at a point in the war where they couldn't afford those kinds of losses.

Lorne continued to move through the darkened forest, Rodney was close behind him with his scanner, his eyes glued to it as he watched for any sign of a Shadow. They were only a few miles from the farm where the couple had been attacked; the chances were that at least one of the Shadows was close by, hiding and waiting for the right time to attack.

"It's freezing out here," Rodney complained, not for the first time. "We're not going to find it, if they wanted to be found they would have appeared by now."

"That doesn't mean we stop looking," Lorne replied not even bothering to turn back to the scientist. "They're out here somewhere and if we can take even one of them out now then that's one less that can attack headquarters."

"Carson has already said that Elizabeth and Teyla can't take on all the Shadows at once, they need days of recovery between confrontations at the very least. What exactly are we supposed to do even if we do find them?" Rodney questioned and Lorne was beginning to get annoyed with the scientist.

"I don't know Rodney," he half shouted and then lowered his voice. "I don't know, we'll just have to figure it out as we go along."

"Why are all of our plans exactly the same?" Rodney questioned and Lorne was about to respond when he heard a noise up ahead. He dropped to his knee behind a fallen tree stump, keeping his weapon pointed forward.

"What are you doing?" Rodney questioned, raising his torch and searching the trees with it.

"Get down," Lorne ordered him, grabbing the fabric of his jacket and yanking him to the ground before he could give away their position. He ignored Rodney's protests and instead focused on the trees ahead of them, his whole body alert for any sign of something that shouldn't be there. He was met with complete silence and no movement; he waited another minute before slowly standing up. "It must have been an animal."

"Are you sure?" Rodney questioned worriedly and Lorne nodded.

"Yeah, let's go," Lorne replied, trying to ignore the prickly sensation on the back of his neck while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

"_This is Sheppard,"_ John's voice came over the radio. _"We're losing light fast and it's too dangerous to search for these things in the dark. Meet at the rendezvous point, we'll try again tomorrow."_

"Come on, let's get out of here," Lorne said to Rodney, unable to shake the feeling that the Shadow was close by.

* * *

She hadn't had this much trouble sleeping since she had first woken up aboard Ronons command ship. Even after she had been arrested by the Alliance and sentenced to life in a maximum security prison she had been able to sleep better than she was now. She had been tossing and turning for almost five hours, her gaze alternating between the same three spots, one on the curtains, one on the ceiling and one on the pillow.

Ronon was sleeping only slightly better than she was, he'd dozed off a few times only to wake up again a short while later. He was getting more and more frustrated as the hours ticked by and feeling his frustration was adding to her own. She was tired, she needed to sleep, especially knowing what the next few days might have in store for her. She couldn't shut off though, couldn't make her mind stop racing with possibilities and consequences, couldn't clear her head of thoughts long enough to fall asleep.

"I'm getting up," Ronon announced suddenly as he sat up in the bed beside her. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him back down.

"I have to sleep, I don't have a choice and if I'm going to be stuck here getting annoyed, so are you," she informed him and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"So I have to suffer because you do?" he questioned and she nodded her head. He sighed heavily as he laid back down, his gaze shifting to the ceiling. "That seems unfair."

"I don't care," she stated and then made herself comfortable, closing her eyes and willing sleep to come just for a couple of hours.

"You asleep yet?" Ronon asked minutes later and she groaned as she opened her eyes.

"No," she replied and sat up, shaking her head and rubbing at her sore eyes. "I will never be able to fight the Shadows like this; I wouldn't even be able to take on one of them never mind four."

"And you're never going to be able to sleep if you keep worrying about it," he told her and she looked at him incredulously.

"And why exactly are you not sleeping?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow mockingly. "Worried about something?"

"I'm allowed to be worrying and not sleeping, I don't have to fight the Shadows," he told her and she glared at him, hating the fact that he was right. He could do his job tomorrow, even if he didn't sleep another minute all night. She couldn't say the same; if she didn't sleep she wouldn't have the strength to fight off even one Shadow, at least not without it killing her and if she died Elizabeth would not be able to fight the final three, in all likelihood she would die trying. The fate of the entire human race rested on Teyla and Elizabeth getting a decent night of sleep and she was fairly certain Elizabeth would be fairing no better.

"I hate this, why did I have to start caring?" she questioned not really expecting an answer.

"Part of you has always cared Teyla, you just learned not to listen to it for a while," Ronon stated and she sighed again, the answer, while helpful it some ways, did nothing to help her current situation. "Look, we can't change what's going to happen tomorrow, all we can do is handle everything as it's thrown at us. Whatever happens, happens, we've gotten this far."

Teyla nodded and lay back down; she curled herself into Ronons side and closed her eyes. She didn't feel any better about the day ahead but she did feel like maybe she could sleep, for a couple of hours at least.

"Teyla," Ronons voice drifted through the haze that was settling in her mind. "No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know..."

She knew he wouldn't be able to say it and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to hear it. "I know," she said quietly, his arm around her waist tightened and she finally fell asleep.

* * *

Laura ducked under the branch of a tree, stepping over its root at the same time. The forest was dense here; perhaps its most dense for miles, John claimed that simply made it a more likely hiding place for the Shadows. They'd been searching the area for Shadows all day with no sign of them; if she didn't know better she would have said they were no longer there. She clutched her weapon in her hand tightly knowing that this was one enemy it couldn't save her from, still, holding it gave her comfort.

"Surely if these things were here they would have attacked by now," one of the soldiers who was nearby stated. She turned to look at him; it was the same man that had questioned whether he could trust Dex and Teyla. She could understand his reluctance to trust them, she hadn't trusted them either but she'd done what she had to, for the mission. Even though she could sympathise with his issues trusting the two former Vernai, she had quickly come to learn since then that he was a cocky, arrogant ass that made Rodney look like a ray of sunshine.

"They're here, somewhere," she stated as she continued to make her way through the trees.

"Then where are they, if they're so powerful and so invulnerable then why are they hiding in Shadows, why don't they just swoop in here and wipe us all out?" he asked sarcastically and Laura stopped and turned to him.

"Because they're smarter than that, they have a plan, there's a reason they're here and they're not going to put that in jeopardy just to wipe out your sorry ass," Laura told him and the man opened his mouth to say something but wisely decided against it and remained silent. "And they'll know the Electus are here, they're not going to risk showing themselves until they have to."

She continued walking, enjoying the quiet that had fallen over the small group of soldiers in her area. She knew the soldier was right; partly right at least, there was no Shadow close by, not in the immediate area anyway. The animals were making noise, if the Shadow was close she would expect the silence normally associated with a large predator being nearby, the animals may not be the target but they would be smart enough to want to stay away from the Shadows all the same.

There were voices over the radio, John doing his scheduled check in with the various teams and Laura briefly gave the all clear for her area when her turn came around. Dex was half way through announcing that he hadn't seen anything either when Lorne's voice cut in, he'd found one of the Shadows. Laura immediately changed direction, heading to the area she knew Marcus had been searching and ordering the soldiers around her to do the same. She ran through the trees knowing that if the Shadow had also spotted Lorne, there wasn't much time to get to him, he couldn't fight the Shadow. She couldn't either, even if she got there now there would be little she could do but she ran anyway. The trees quickly began to clear, the terrain levelled out and before she knew it she was leaping into a clearing.

Lorne and several soldiers were there, Dex had just appeared at the other side of the clearing and she could hear John's voice somewhere close by. What she hadn't expected to find was two Shadows. Three soldiers were already dead; Lorne was forcing the remainder of them back though some of them seemed to have taken little notice of their briefing and were shooting at the Shadows.

John ran passed her, seeming to appear out of nowhere and immediately he was in control of the situation. He called for the soldiers to cease fire and after several shouts they had all done so and were moving back toward the trees as they'd been told to. Teyla arrived at the same time as Carson and her eyes widened as she looked at the two Shadows looming over them all, she couldn't fight two at once.

She heard Elizabeth's voice over the radio, she was almost there but from the sound of it no one had informed her there were two Shadows waiting for her. Laura was about tap her ear piece and tell her when she was forced to grab a handful of a soldiers jacket and drag him back when he attempted to approach the Shadow, his weapon raised.

"That won't do any good," she told him and he gave her a hateful glare but stepped back.

"There's two," she heard Rodney exclaim behind her, breathless and high pitched. She turned around to see him hunched over slightly, trying to catch his breath from running here. "They can't fight two, not one right after the other, it'll kill them and then they'll kill us."

"That's not helping Rodney," she snapped at him and turned back to the clearing in time to see Elizabeth arrive, her expression similar to Teyla's as she saw what she had to face. The Shadows themselves weren't doing anything, both were remaining where they were which was almost as terrifying as when they were killing people.

"What are they waiting for?" Rodney questioned. As if on cue another Shadow appeared from among the trees, moving straight passed John and the nearby soldiers to join the other Shadows in the centre of the clearing.

"That," Laura stated in answer to Rodney's question as the fourth and final Shadow also joined them and moved towards the others. There were several moments of silence and Laura noticed that the wildlife were all silent now as well. The four Shadows moved together, standing so close it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. She squinted her eyes, looking closer and she realised that the reason she couldn't tell was because there wasn't a point where one ended and another began, they were joining together.

The whole are suddenly came alive with energy that was radiating from the four Shadows, the force of it almost pushing her backwards. Soldiers began shouting; one of them started firing their weapon which only served to trigger more to do the same. John and Lorne were both trying to regain order and amongst all the chaos Laura heard Teyla and Elizabeth scream. She turned to where they had been stood and she saw them both fall to the ground clutching their heads in obvious pain.

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

**Authors Note: I can't believe this is the final chapter, it feels like I've been writing this fic forever. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this fic, I know I haven't always been great about updating. Extra special thanks to everyone who has a left a review, you guys are my inspiration and I hope you enjoy this final chapter. The link to the trailer for part 3 is at the bottom of this chapter and can also be found on my profile page!**

Chapter 31

The pain was so intense that it seemed to be all that existed, the Shadows, the team, the soldiers, the forest, all of it disappeared and there was just the pain. Elizabeth clutched her head and fell to her knees, she thought she heard a voice screaming and wondered only briefly if it was her voice. Images and thoughts flooded her mind, flying by so fast she barely had time to register any of them, those she did manage to hold onto for more than a second were all of pain and death.

She tried to focus through the pain and for a few moments the clearing came back into view. It was chaos, soldiers firing weapons, her friends trying to regain order. She saw John running towards her, not even slowing as he approached and dropped to his knees beside her. The pain took over again then, worse than before and the images and thoughts that could only be coming from the Shadows returned.

She tried to hold onto them, to understand what she was seeing but they were moving too quickly and the pain was too much. She heard her voice again, crying out against the pain as she continued to clutch at her head, her fingers gripping her hair painfully. She felt something on her arms but the touch was barely there. There was another voice, this one not her own but still familiar and urging her to open her eyes. She complied, her vision was blurry and the light felt like an assault on her eyes but she forced herself to concentrate on the figure before her.

John moved his hands to cover hers on her head, forcing her to look at him and her vision cleared enough for her to see his face, to see his worry. She kept her eyes on his, used them as her anchor as she tried to get passed the pain.

"Focus on me Elizabeth," he told her repeatedly and somehow it helped, it did nothing to lessen the pain but it gave her something to pull her through it.

The pain suddenly lessened, reduced to a manageable level and she breathed deeply as she took her hands from her head. She looked around her, trying to understand where the pain had come from and why it had stopped. The four shadows were one now, joined together in one huge dark mass that looked like a cross between the Shadows and the Cloud. It was advancing on the soldiers that were firing at it and in one flash of energy they were killed.

"Get back," she heard Laura shouting to those that remained. "Get back."

Elizabeth's eyes searched out Teyla; she was on the ground not far from her with Ronon and Carson standing over her. She scrambled to her feet and ran over to her as Teyla pushed herself into a standing position. The Shadow was moving toward Lorne now and Elizabeth knew she had only seconds before he was killed. She acted without thinking, grabbing Teyla's hand as she ran by and moving to stand in front of Lorne.

The Shadow stopped moving, sensing who they were and Elizabeth and Teyla stepped forward, raising their hands as they had done so many times already. The light fired from them toward the shadow but this time it was met in the middle by a beam of energy and a battle of wills began, one that Elizabeth could already tell they were losing. She felt pain rip through her, the pain she had come to associate with using her power.

The point at which hers and Teyla's power met the Shadows power was moving closer to them and she knew if she didn't find a way to beat them quickly then it would kill them both. She had so little left to give but she dug down deeper, throwing every bit of energy her body had into her power and she understood in that moment that this was going to kill her.

Images from the Shadows came again, flooding her mind but these images were different, they were not thoughts or memories, they were images of what was to come. She saw her and Teyla fail, she saw them both die here and the Shadow continued on to kill everyone in the clearing. She watched as they killed her friends, as they killed John before they left this place. She saw towns and cities burning, bodies lying in the streets and people crying over lost loved ones. She saw death and destruction in a way she had never been able to imagine it, all because she had failed here.

Then abruptly she remembered that she had not failed yet, that it was a future she was seeing, one that she could change. Out of nowhere she felt a new reserve of energy, all of it flowing into her power and she could feel that same reserve in Teyla. She heard herself cry out, both from the effort and the pain and then, suddenly, there was nothing.

She heard screeching, saw the Shadow disintegrate into nothing. She felt herself falling and barely registered herself hit the floor before everything went black and she knew nothing else.

* * *

John watched as the ship landed in the port, beside him General Landry shifted with impatience as they waited for people to begin disembarking. He sympathised with the man, he'd been informed fifteen minutes ago that the ship carrying the council back to Atlantis was about to arrive and he'd come here as ordered to meet them. They both had other things to do, other places they needed to be but the council had ordered them here, so here they both were. The docking ramp finally opened and the council and their armed guard descended, all of them untouched by recent events.

"Agent Sheppard, General Landry," one of the councillors greeted them with a nod; Tyrone was the leader of the council, appointed only six months ago when the previous head had been forced to step down due to illness. It hadn't made any real difference, at least not to John, the two men were exactly alike, most of the council were, they had their agenda and they shared very little information with anyone. "I trust you have everything in hand here."

"Of course sir," Landry replied.

Tyrone told the other councillors to continue without him, informing them he would meet them in the council chambers in a few hours. John watched as they all left, eager to return to their homes after being away for several days. Tyrone gestured for John and the General to walk with him and they fell in step beside him as the councillor gave Landry orders to increase the guard around headquarters, the return of the council would only increase the media frenzy that was going on outside the building. The General nodded and left as John and Tyrone continued walking.

"We are certain that all of the Shadows have been defeated?" the councillor questioned and John nodded his head.

"It was all in the report I sent you," he replied, not wanting to go into it all again. "The Shadows are gone, it cost us though," he told the man sadly.

"Indeed," Tyrone said with a quick nod. "The Shadows combining to form one entity was unexpected, the situation was well handled though, the casualty list could have been much higher."

They arrived at the infirmary and the councillor looked between two of the occupied beds. Elizabeth's and Teyla's status had remained unchanged since they had defeated the Shadow. They had both collapsed as the fight had ended and they'd been rushed back here only for Carson to announce that they were both in a coma. They had minimal brain activity, it was just above the region where they could be declared brain dead and it hadn't changed in days.

"How are the Electus?" Tyrone questioned.

"The same," John replied, his eyes lingering on Elizabeth.

"There's still very little brain activity," Carson explained as he walked over. "They're having trouble breathing on their own so we have them both on oxygen support. The levels of the Shadow chemicals in their systems are the highest they've ever been so we have them both restrained as a precaution."

"The Shadows have been destroyed though, they shouldn't be able to take control," the councillor stated. His eyes briefly fell on Ronon who was sitting beside Teyla's bed, the former Vernai commander simply stared back, daring the man to make him move.

"We'd rather not take the risk and we know that Elizabeth and Teyla would rather be safe than sorry as well," John told the man.

"Let us hope then that they both wake up soon, they're not finished yet," the councillor stated and John whipped his head around toward the councillor.

"What do you mean not finished yet?" he questioned both worried and angry. "The Shadows are gone, it's over."

"Agent Sheppard, it is far from over," Tyrone stated and then left the room. John was caught between being worried about what else Elizabeth would have to go through and being angry that the council was still keeping things from them. He looked at Carson, who shook his head in dismay and went back to tending to his patients. John went to sit beside Elizabeth, holding her hand as he had done for the last few days, as he had done far too many times before and he had a sinking feeling that if she made it through this, he'd have to do it again.

* * *

The briefing had been as short as they usually were, they'd been given a quick rundown of the situation and what they needed to do, everything else they needed to know would be given to them on a data pad for them to read en route. Lorne walked out of the council chambers far more annoyed than he'd gone in there. He kept his emotions in check, as much as he didn't want to leave right now he knew that he couldn't stay here forever and the war with the Vernai wasn't slowing down because they'd taken out the Shadows, if anything it was getting worse.

It had been two weeks since Elizabeth and Teyla had destroyed the Shadows, neither woman had woken up from their coma yet, in fact there had been no change in their condition whatsoever. They both just lay there day after day and Marcus was beginning to fear they wouldn't wake up at all. He kept his concerns to himself though; it was the last thing any of them needed to hear.

John had barely left the infirmary, Dex hadn't either and Lorne was starting to suspect the man cared more than he was willing to admit. Carson had been forced to kick them both out of the infirmary several times, sending them to eat, or shower, or sleep on an actual bed rather than the chairs they seemed to have taken up residence in.

"I can't believe they're sending us out right now," Laura muttered as they made their way toward the infirmary to inform the others of their impending departure.

"It had to happen sooner or later, there's no way to know when Elizabeth and Teyla will wake up, we can't wait forever. We're lucky we got two weeks with the way the war's going right now," Marcus replied with a shrug. "I don't like it either, but we have a duty, Elizabeth would want us out there doing it."

"I guess so," Laura said. "She's never been this bad before, usually there's at least some sign of improvement by now."

"I know, she's tough, if anyone can come through this, it's her," Lorne told her putting a hand on her arm as they walked.

Laura nodded, not looking entirely convinced. "Do you think the council is ever planning to tell us what they meant by 'It's far from over'?" Laura questioned, changing the subject as they stepped into an elevator.

"They'll tell us whenever they deem it necessary for us to know," Lorne replied bitterly. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with how unforthcoming the council had been. "Let's just concentrate on this mission, we can go back to worrying about everything else when we get back."

The elevator doors opened and they walked down the corridor and into the infirmary. The scene was almost exactly as it had been when Lorne had dropped in that morning. Teyla and Elizabeth were both still unconscious, John and Dex were still in their chairs except the two men were awake now and Carson was in the office. The only real difference was that Rodney was there now as well, the scientist was just walking out of the office.

"We're being sent out," Marcus stated getting everyone's attention.

"I thought you might be when they called you in," John replied, he looked exhausted but he stood up and walked over to them, glancing back at Elizabeth as he did so.

"Where are you going?" Carson asked as he came out of the office to stand with Laura.

"Belase," Laura told him. "The Vernai have brought more forces in there and we've taken some heavy losses. If we don't turn the tables on them we're going to lose the planet. We're leaving in half an hour."

"You'd better go and get ready then," John stated. "Be careful."

"Always."

* * *

Science had always been his safe haven, as a teenager he had often immersed himself in his science books, his studies as a way to cope with whatever teenage drama he was faced with, the serious and the trifling. Now it was his work that he buried himself in, an experiment, a new line of research or revisiting an old idea. It was comforting to him, to be working on something important, something he knew he was good at, when something else in his life felt as though it was beyond his control, admittedly that was most things.

Elizabeth and Teyla had yet to wake up from their coma; he had visited the infirmary everyday to find that both women were exactly as he had left them. John and Dex had barely moved from the infirmary either, neither had Carson, the three of them never seemed to be anywhere else. There was nothing he could do about any of it, he had done every test possible on Elizabeth and Teyla's blood and tissue samples to discover more about their conditions, the chemicals, the shadows but none of it could help them.

So here he was, in his lab, taking a break from the tests he was running on various Shadow and Cloud related samples to work on an old invention of his, one he had never quite managed to make work. It was a form of nanotechnology, something he had been working on with Carson for years now. Nano-robots that could be injected into a person's blood stream with a specific purpose, to combat various illnesses from the inside, if they could make it work it would be a huge advancement for medicine.

He heard the door to his office open and looked up expecting to see one of the other scientists with access to the room, all of whom had been told not to disturb him for the next couple of hours unless it was an emergency. Instead what he saw was several people dressed from head to toe in black, their faces covered and guns in their hands.

He was grabbed from both sides before he could even register what was going on, they gagged him and dragged him from the room despite his struggling. He was led down familiar corridors and out of a back entrance to the building where a black van was waiting for them. They unceremoniously through him in the back, several of them climbing in behind him before they slammed the door shut. He felt the engine of the van start up and the vehicle began to move.

He tried to talk through the gag unsuccessfully and watched as the men removed their masks. He recognised one of the faces, someone he had seen around Alliance Headquarters on several occasions but the others were unfamiliar to him. His first thought was that maybe they were Vernai, or part of a group that sympathised with them. Then his thoughts moved on to terrorists, people that wanted to use him for ransom, he was rather valuable so that would make sense.

He wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed he was missing, he had instructed the science department to leave him alone for a few hours. John and Carson were in the infirmary and likely wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Elizabeth was still in a coma, Teyla and Dex wouldn't care even if Teyla was conscious and Lorne and Laura had left on a mission just over two weeks ago. It could be tomorrow before anyone realised he was gone, maybe even longer than that.

It felt like he had been in the van forever when they finally stopped and he was dragged back out again. He was outside a large building, it looked modern and well looked after, not something he'd expect from people that wanted to kidnap him for ransom. Once he was inside the building he was even more sure they weren't money hungry kidnappers, something else was going on here.

He was taken through a reception area, where they were greeted as though they had simply entered a hotel and asked for a room. He was led through clean, tidy hallways, not unlike the ones at headquarters and he saw the Alliance logo several times before he was taken into what looked like some kind of business briefing room for executives. Most of the men left then, two of them positioning themselves by the door as another man entered. He was smartly dressed, wearing an expensive looking suit and an ID badge that had the Alliance logo in the top corner.

"Good afternoon Dr McKay, I hope your journey here wasn't too uncomfortable," the man stated as he placed several files on the table in front him.

"I've had better travel conditions," he replied warily and the man smirked.

"I apologise for the manner in which you were brought here but I'm afraid it was necessary," he told him. "My name is Alex Johnson, I work for the Alliance. This is a top secret facility, only a handful of people outside of this building and the council themselves know about it. You've been brought here because we require your assistance."

"And if I say no?" Rodney questioned.

"I'm afraid the choice is not yours to make Dr McKay," Johnson stated. "What you are about to learn is classified at the highest levels, much like this facility, only a handful of people outside of this building and the council know any of this. You are not to leave this building or attempt to contact anyone outside of it until further notice."

Johnson gestured to one of the chairs at the table and Rodney glanced between him, the chair and the two armed men standing by the door. He sat down warily and Johnson did the same, handing him one of the files.

* * *

They were barely holding their ground, battles were going on across the whole planet, their forces were stretched too thin and the only comfort that could be taken from that was that the Vernai forces were stretched just as thin. They were gaining ground in some places and losing it in others, the soldiers were tired and there didn't seem to be an end in sight. Most of the civilian population had been evacuated when it became clear that the Vernai intended to take this planet and many of them were safely on transports before the bulk of the Vernai forces had arrived. Those that remained were trapped here now, there was a Vernai fleet in orbit, battling with the Alliance ships but trying to get a transport out now would likely be a death sentence to anyone on board.

"We're five minutes out," Lorne announced as he returned from the front of the troop transport they were on and took his seat next to Laura. The two of them had spent two weeks moving from one battlefield to the next, providing support wherever they were needed the most. They were both beyond exhausted, they'd been battered and bruised and neither had seen a proper, hot shower in over a week, reduced instead to a quick wash whenever there was a break in fighting. Their last hot shower and decent meal had been during their very brief visit to the alliances makeshift base of operations in the capital city eight days ago. The only well equipped military base on the planet had been blown to bits the day before Lorne and Laura had arrived.

"Yay," Laura replied sarcastically, on the one hand it would mean getting out of the cramped military transport she'd spent the last seven hours being bounced around in, on the other hand, more getting shot at. "You know we're going to lose this one right?"

Lorne nodded. "I know, we just don't have the resources or the manpower to hold this line. The latest update from Stevens doesn't look good, my guess is we'll be able to hold out for a few hours before we have to drop back. We're going to lose ground but if we can prevent giving them too much until the second group of reinforcements arrive we might alright," he told her and she gave him an incredulous look. "Maybe."

They felt the car come to a stop just as the sound of battle came into hearing range, this was as far as the transport could take them. They both stood up, shouting orders to the twenty two men in the transport with them before leaving the vehicle. It smelled like battle, it was the only thing they'd been able to smell for two weeks now.

"Alright, let's move," Lorne called out and took point, leading the far too small a group toward the sounds of gunfire and explosions. Laura stayed toward the back, keeping her eyes open for any sign of a threat, it wouldn't be the first time the Vernai had gotten behind one of their lines. They reached the battle without incident, and were immediately taken to Colonel Lance who quickly put his twenty two new men to work.

"That's all that could come?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so, for now at least," Laura told him. "There's another transport on its way but it won't be here until tomorrow morning."

"We can't hold out that long," Lance stated with a shake of his head.

"Let's just do what we can, if we have to drop back we will," Lorne said and then nodded his head back where he had just come from. "I saw you already set up for it a little ways back."

"Seemed inevitable really, figured we might as well be prepared for it, I've had my people steadily setting things up back there whenever we've had a moments reprieve here, brief and few as they've been," Lane explained wiping at dirt on his face that was only going to come away now with water and a scrub.

"Get down," they heard a nearby soldier shout and ducked just as an explosion tore through the air nearby. Several Vernai soldiers were making a run for the Alliance line, a suicide run but one intended to do some damage first. They fired on the soldiers, all of them going down but not before one of the Alliance men were killed. They managed to fire off another grenade, this one heading right for them and the alliance personnel scattered quickly to avoid it. It hit the ground only feet away from where Laura, Lorne and Lance had been standing. Two soldiers were killed by it, another three injured, only one of them had to be carried to the medical tent, the other two insisted on continuing to fight.

The fighting continued that way for another hour before they decided they had to pull back, if they took anymore losses then the Vernai would overrun them. Lorne ordered Lance to move his men back to the line that was partially set up behind them and slowly they began to move.

Laura and Lorne set several explosives up along their current line with the help of a few soldiers before sending the soldiers to join the others. The two of them took cover nearby, staying out of sight as the Vernai realised what was going on and began to push forward. It took them a while but they finally reached where the Alliance line had been and once enough of them were in range Laura triggered the explosives.

"Nicely done," Lorne said as watched the explosions take out a huge portion of the Vernai forces.

Laura smiled. "That ought to hold them off for a while."

"Come on, we need to get to the others," Lorne told her and the two of them began to move. Laura felt something hit her back, her body no longer able to support her weight and she hit the ground just as Lorne was hit as well. A stunner, she realised just as she heard voices coming toward her. A face appeared in her vision, it was blurred but as she focused on it the face became clearer and she found herself trying to back away from it in fear.

"What the hell..." she began only to be cut off by a hit to the head that left her unconscious.

* * *

There were a lot of people starting to whisper now, doctors and nurses who came and went, doing their jobs; he heard them, even when they thought he couldn't. They were starting to believe the Electus were never going to wake up. There had been no change in Teyla's and Elizabeth's condition since they had been brought in, they were stable for the moment and had been for a while but they'd been stable right before each of the times they'd flat lined as well.

He had to block out the whispers, even when his mind tried to replay them over and over. He needed to believe they were going to wake up, that she was going to wake up, otherwise he wasn't sure what he'd do, he wasn't sure how he'd cope.

"How are you doing?" Carson asked him for what was probably the hundredth time in the last four and a half weeks.

"The same as the last time you asked," John replied, not looking up from where Elizabeth was laid, unmoving except for the steady rise and fall of her chest. The oxygen mask covering her face ensuring that each breath was full of the oxygen her body just wasn't getting from her shallow breaths.

"I know you've heard people talking," Carson stated as though he had read John's mind and come over here specifically to deal with it. "I know both of you have."

John glanced over to Ronon who shrugged. "People talk, I've never put much faith in what people say," the former Vernai stated.

"What do you think?" John questioned, half wishing he could take the question back, afraid that the answer might not be what he wanted.

Carson was silent for a moment. "I think there's no way to know. People have woken up from being in a coma for years. Their brain activity is still minimal, just above brain dead, if it dropped even slightly lower then I'd have to declare them brain dead but it's not dropping so there's still hope. I'm not giving up on either of them, but at the same time, there's no way to know if or when they'll wake up. It could be today, next week, next month, next year, it could also be never."

It was exactly the answer he had expected, it wasn't the enthusiastic rallying response he had probably been hoping for but at the same time it didn't leave him without hope.

"I'm not giving up on them," Carson repeated and went back to his office. John took hold of Elizabeth's hand and made himself comfortable in his chair again, she would wake up, she had to.

TBC

**Authors Note: Please don't kill me, I can't write the next part of the series if you do. I promise not to take too long with the next story, I've already started work on it and the trailer for it is now on youtube at the following link;**

**http:/ www . youtube. com /watch?v=qcIOyIukkTw&feature=channel_video_title **_**(Without the spaces)**_

**Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed. **

**Xxx**


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